Suspected mold problem delays Keansburg preschoolers

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Suspected mold problem delays Keansburg preschoolers

Classes won't be held until Monday

Asbury Park Press - Asbury Park,NJ*

9/5/07

BY KEVIN PENTON

KEYPORT BUREAU

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KEANSBURG — Classes for all of the district's 239 preschoolers will

be delayed until Monday and held at the ph C. Caruso School

because of a suspected mold problem in several classroom trailers,

the Board of Education decided Tuesday.

Once school does begin, pupils will be split into two sets that will

attend half-day sessions, 8:20 to 11:20 a.m. or noon to 3 p.m., the

board decided. Classes for the preschoolers had been scheduled to

begin Thursday.

The emergency plan is expected to be in place until the trailers are

cleaned up, a process that district officials anticipate will take

several weeks.

Testing in late August of the air inside, under and immediately

outside several trailers that are part of the Port Monmouth Road

School found higher than normal amounts of mold, a district

consultant said.

The mold grew because of water leaks inside the trailers and because

the structures were laid atop a recessed area where water collects

during rainstorms, said Lance Berens, senior industrial hygienist

with Environmental Connection, Trenton, which the district hired

this spring.

Leaves from nearby trees collect under the trailers, Berens said,

and as they dampen and rot they let off a foul odor that can be

smelled inside the trailers. The leaves also attract microscopic

mushrooms that feed on the dead leaves, he said.

" Generally, it's wet and rather nasty under all of them, " Berens

said of the space under the trailers. " Because everything is wet

down there, you have a perfect breeding ground. "

Spores from the maturing mushrooms could cause allergic reactions in

people who are either allergic to them, have asthma or have other

medical conditions, Berens said.

Details of the most recent test results were not available Tuesday.

Even though the mold in the 5-year-old trailers was not found to be

at an alarming level, it made sense to be on the safe side and clean

them out without pupils present, board President Manoes said.

" If I wouldn't send my own kid in there, I certainly wouldn't allow

the children of other people to go to school under those

conditions, " Manoes said before the board meeting Tuesday.

Under the plan, parents are expected to be notified by telephone

today that all Port Monmouth Road School preschool pupils will

attend classes at the Caruso School beginning Monday. Parents will

also be offered several child-care options during the phone call.

When the pupils are not in class, the district will provide free

child care at the Caruso School from 8:20 a.m. to 2:20 p.m. for

children of parents who submit a letter from their employer showing

that they work during the day.

The district will also provide a " wraparound " child care service to

5:30 p.m. The cost of the service varies, depending on the parents'

income. Already, 48 children are signed up for the service, which is

offered year-round.

Several parents in the audience, which numbered more than 50,

questioned the notification procedures, saying few people knew of

the meeting Tuesday or even of the mold conditions in the trailers.

" My nephew just went to school in those trailers, " said resident

Tucker, whose child is about to begin preschool. " I'm

concerned about what he was exposed to. "

Board member Moran said the district learned only Friday of

the new test results for the trailers. She said administrators moved

quickly to develop a plan for how to deal with the first day of

school.

" We didn't want to cause chaos and provide no answers to parents, "

Moran said.