Teacher says air quality at Oak Hill High needs addressed

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Teacher says air quality at Oak Hill High needs addressed

Beckley Register-Herald - Beckley,WV

By Hill

Register-Herald Reporter

http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_141230815.html

FAYETTEVILLE — Fayette County Board of Education President Peggy

Farmer on Monday attempted to assure an Oak Hill High School teacher

that his complaints about the indoor air quality of the school in

which he teaches will be promptly addressed.

Randy Boyd, a social studies teacher, made several requests of board

members that he said would pay for themselves within a decade via

reduced energy and maintenance costs — a new roof, replace carpets

with tile floors, overhaul the ventilation system, and place HEPA

filters on all vacuum cleaners used in the school.

For Boyd, it is simply too important not only to a sufficient

learning environment but to life and health. " This is not a problem

we just made up, " he asserted, adding that school faculty had

brought exactly the same concerns to board members in 1996.

Presuming that everyone had already enjoyed their dinner, Boyd

proceeded to show 19 photographs of everything from mold on the

walls to buckets filled with what he called " the ugliest water

you've ever seen " that had leaked into classrooms from 34 trouble

spots on the roof. He also spoke of " rodent feces " in the

ventilation system.

The school does not meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

requirements for indoor air quality from 1973, 1986 or the most

recent standards set in 2004, Boyd said, and the EPA has listed

indoor air quality as one of the top five public health threats.

One teacher at the school was told by a Duke University physician

that teaching there had caused her to develop asthma, Boyd claimed,

explaining that dust and mold are the top two triggers for asthma

onset.

According to faculty surveys conducted in both 1996 and this year,

Boyd noted, teachers said negative health symptoms went away during

periods when they were away from the school, such as extended

weekends or summer vacation.

While conceding that Fayette County schools superintendent Chris

Perkins brought a team to examine the school last Friday, Boyd had

quarrels with the type of test that was conducted. A carbon dioxide

test, he said, does not reveal as much about indoor air quality as a

flow test would.

In addition to health problems, poor indoor air quality has been

shown to contribute to increased absenteeism and less student

learning and performance, Boyd observed, and asthma is the leading

cause of chronic absenteeism. Boyd said he developed the ailment

himself while teaching at Midland Trail High School.

" Teachers have sued and won medical judgments over this. The 1973

(the year the school was built) EPA standard is not adequate to

protect public health. We want to see something done about it, " Boyd

urged.

He added that his classroom regularly registers humidity levels of

60 and 70 percent, even with a dehumidifier, while the state Bureau

for Public Health recommends between 30 and 50 percent.

" We will look into these issues. It (the school) needs work, and it

needs it soon. We will try to correct these as quickly as possible,

and we do have money appropriated for that, but we will work

something out as quickly as possible, " vowed Farmer.

- - -

The complaint referred to a recent proposal by the county's heating,

ventilation and air conditioning contractor, which stated that the

ventilation system at OHHS was unreliable and needed replaced.

This proposal said replacing the system would result in a healthier

environment, improved school performance and cost savings due to

decreased maintenance and energy costs.

The assertion, said Boyd, is consistent with the EPA's statement

that the cost of fixing indoor air-quality problems can be less than

the costs attributed to increased sick leave, health care costs,

energy costs, and loss of productivity.

The complaint also mentioned EPA documents that state that mold

eventually destroys building materials with which it comes into

contact and eventually deteriorates the school building.

— E-mail: mhill@...