Mold found at Ione school

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Mold found at Ione school

Amador Ledger-Dispatch - ,CA

By Jenifer Gee

http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=209680

Ione Elementary School first graders were moved out of one of their

classrooms last week after one of the teachers spotted what turned

out to be mold, according to Assistant Superintendent of Business

Services Barbara Murray.

On March 9, the incident was reportedly addressed and testing began

in the room. Five days later, students in the portable, which is

room 16, were moved to room four, and they haven't returned to the

portable since.

The school district spoke with the Ledger Dispatch Thursday morning

and explained that two weeks ago, the teacher in room 16 brought the

problem to the attention of the principal and maintenance staff. The

room was tested and an allergen or mold was found at a low level,

according to Murray. The students were then removed from the room so

the air and furniture could be cleaned, Murray said.

At 10 a.m. Thursday, maintenance conducted another air test and took

more samplings.

The maintenance staff also checked other portables and found room 23

had stained tiles and tested for one type of mold spore. That room

had a less severe finding but is also being cleaned, according to

Murray.

On Tuesday, a representative from the Amador County Unified School

District's insurance agency toured the school and did so again on

Thursday before they met with parents at a 3 p.m. information

meeting.

The school district plans to reassess all rooms in the school to see

if any further testing needs to be conducted, Murray said.

During the time that the problem was being addressed, however, some

parents struggled to obtain information.

" They told us there was an allergen but nothing further, " said an

Ione parent whose 6-year-old daughter was in the classroom.

She and a few other parents filed a Public Information Act Request,

which revealed the name of the allergen but " we don't understand

what that means, " the parent said.

A letter was sent by Ione Elementary School Principal Tony Wight to

parents that stated that because of concerns expressed by parents

for the incident between March 9 and 13, the school was scheduling a

meeting for Thursday, March 22. But for the Ione parent and others,

the vagueness of the letter caused an initial alarm because some

parents didn't know what incident was being referenced. Murray

acknowledged that the letter should have specified that the meeting

would address the mold findings.

On Thursday afternoon, the insurance representative met with

parents. The proceedings of the meeting or further details could not

be obtained by press time. The Ledger Dispatch will include more

information in its March 28 issue.