Parents Frustrated With KHS Air Quality

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Parents Frustrated With KHS Air Quality

Westport-News - Westport,CT*

By C. no

09/26/2007

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 the

school, 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.

Despite the reductions, the board decided to keep a request of

$450,000 for money owed to Connecticut Light and Power due to a

faulty electric meter at the school.