RE: Parents Frustrated With KHS Air Quality

[Guest guest]

That is crazy!

They are not willing to let the classrooms be ventilated or even the air be

filtered? What is going on? If kids are getting sick that is a wake up call

that something needs to be done.

The only thing I can think of is that they are trying to deny that there is

a problem by doing that.

You know, kids have to go to school. But kids also are kids and they may

think they are indestructable at some ages but the fact is that mold is more

damaging to kids than it is for adults because their brains are growing.

In some situations, kids I guess could theoretically wear N-95 or N-100

particle respirators? (If they make them in 'child' sizes. great, if not

maybe the smallest adult size might work?) But I doubt if the kids who

weren't actually sick would do it, even if parents were telling them to. It

sounds like a war is going on between the administrators and everybody else.

But you know, if I was a parent of a child at one of those schools, I would

do anything I could so my child didn't get hypersensitized to mold at a

young age. I don't know what their other options would be.

If schools kept going downhill, I guess there might be a market for a

manufacturer of small sized N-100 masks with animal faces or in different

colors for kids? Parents could buy them in quantity like they buy lunch

snacks, I guess..

But then I think about Dr Straus's team's research on mycotoxins " in

the indoor environment " and on " particles smaller than conidia " and the

inconvenient truth that even HEPA filters don't filter out all the mold

toxins from air, they just get the bigger, often less toxic (by weight)

pieces.. and the identifiable spores.. (leaving the toxic particles that

need QPCR/ERMI testing to be identified.. microscopic spore testing gives

false negatives..)

Risk reduction, as much as you can, makes sense, though.

[Guest guest]

I particularly liked this section: " When asked if he would send his own child to

that school, Landon said he would do so " absolutely 100 percent " based on the

opinion of Gil Cormier, a certified industrial hygienist with Occupational Risk

Control Services, that the school's air was safe for children. " Gil Cormier

said he would send his own child there, " he said. "

Notice that both men said they would send their children to school there, not

that they do. As Carl Grimes has described several times, testing is not the end

all answer to the problem. My experience was similar to these people. I would

cough continuously all day at work, but stop about an hour after going home. A

certified industrial hygienist's report identified lower levels of mold inside

than outside, and failed to show amplification of any specific molds. Even as a

few other people began to show symptoms like me, management interpreted the CIH

report as absence of a problem, not the proper interpretation that the CIH was

unable to identify the problem.

I suspect several of you have had similar experiences. Only when upper level

managers show symptoms are problems readily acknowledged. Thank God for

retirement.

Gil

Parents Frustrated With KHS Air QualityPosted by: " tigerpaw2c "

tigerpaw2c@... tigerpaw2cDate: Wed Sep 26, 2007 7:21 pm ((PDT)) Parents

Frustrated With KHS Air QualityWestport-News - Westport,CT*By C.

no09/26/2007 http://www.westport-news.com/ci_7003375 About 40 parents of

students at King's Highway Elementary School (KHS) stayed at the Board of

Education's Monday night meeting past two o'clock in the morning to express

their frustration with the issue of the air quality at the 80-year-old

institution. Several parents said their children have been experiencing

nosebleeds and other illnesses at the school, which has been beset recently with

mold and air-quality problems.Some parents said the administration has to

provide teachers as soon as possible with poles needed to open the school's

upper windows for proper ventilation. Others said they have brought HEPA (High

Efficiency Particulate Air) filters into some classrooms to help purify the air,

but they have run into a bureaucratic snag with the school administration

whereby the filters cannot be used. " Some parents have brought in the air filters

but they're not allowed to plug them in, " said KHS parent

.Superintendent of School Elliott Landon said a teacher brought in a HEPA

filter, but it may not be used because such a device must be purchased and

approved by the school administration for safety reasons. " When there's a medical

necessity for it, then we provide it, " he said. In response, asked what

constitutes a medical necessity. " One of the children has to show symptoms? " he

said. Timmins, a KHS parent who is also a member of the Representative Town

Meeting, said he is struggling to understand why there is so much resistance

from the school administration to putting the filters in the classrooms and why

there needs to be a medical necessity for them. " The school was filthy prior to

it being cleaned this summer, " he said, adding parents are willing to buy the

machines, which are silent. " Why the push-back on this? I can't understand.

Nothing bad has happened. Only good can come from those filters. " In response

to parents' questions, Landon said it is not a school policy to wait for a

medical necessity, but it has been its " practice. " Timmins said his children

are displaying medical symptoms, but he thinks it may not be from the mold. " I

believe we've done a good job cleaning up the school, but the school is filled

with dust, " he said.He said parents know the school has air-quality issues due

to ventilators not being turned on and other reasons. " The air does not flow, "

he said. " What the hell is wrong with putting a HEPA filter in a room? " Landon

said each case has to be examined individually. " We just don't allow people to

bring machinery into classrooms, " he said.Landon said he would re-examine the

possibility of bringing filters into the school with the district's health

professionals and legal counsel.Larry Wasserman said his daughter, who is in

first grade at theschool, has been coughing every night since school started and

plans on keeping her out of the school until the problem is fixed. " Why can't I

put a filter in the room? " he said. " My daughter has nosebleeds, she has an

allergic condition. " When asked if he would send his own child to that school,

Landon said he would do so " absolutely 100 percent " based on the opinion of Gil

Cormier, a certified industrial hygienist with Occupational Risk Control

Services, that the school's air was safe for children. " Gil Cormier said he would

send his own child there, " he said. In response to parents, Landon said the

administration should decide by the end of the week whether the filters could be

used in the classrooms. , assistant superintendent for business,

said a purchase order has been made for the poles.Expressing the sentiment of

many parents there, Georgia, Larry Wasserman's wife, " We want immediate

action. " Prior to the discussion with the parents on the issue of the mold, the

board looked at a possible appropriation request of almost $2.4 million related

to air-quality issues at the district's schools. Following a lengthy discussion,

the board decided it would discuss and vote on an appropriation request of

$773,000 at a future meeting.The board reduced the request by more than $1.6

million by deciding to hold back a $900,000 request to repoint all the bricks

throughout the district, a $100,000 request for the annual salary of a indoor

air-quality/HVAC specialist and an appeal for $750,000 to remove carpeting from

all of the school's ground floors. The board also reduced a $100,000 request for

unanticipated expenses at the school to $7,000.

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