T.C Berrien school building may have mold

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Published: 06:16 AM, Sun Sep 20, 2009

T.C Berrien school building may have mold

By A. Reid

Staff writer

http://www.fayobserver.com/Articles/2009/09/20/930504

The Fayetteville Observer Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:05 PM PDT

Teachers and students were removed from a classroom building at T.C. Berrien

Elementary School this month after educators complained of illness from possible

mold, an associate superintendent said.

The building - called a pod - is being overhauled, though the school's principal

and an associate superintendent say no mold has been found. Parents have not

been told about the mold claims.

" I do not have any documentation showing me there is mold in the pod area, "

Principal Sylvia Caldwell said.

But at least two health care professionals who treated school staff were

concerned about the risk of exposure to mold or allergens. One doctor wrote a

stern letter Sept. 1 to the state Department of Public Instruction, saying he

found it " unconscionable " that - according to his patient - administrators were

told of a mold risk and hadn't taken " proactive steps to correct it. "

Students and teachers were removed from the pod Sept. 3. Until then, about 60

kindergartners and first-graders spent the majority of their day in the

building, Caldwell said. The students were moved to the main school building,

and makeshift classrooms have been set up in the gym and other areas.

A letter sent to parents said the relocation was because of leaky pipes, which

caused water to be shut off to the pod, Caldwell said.

Doctor's letter

According to the doctor's letter sent to the state Board of Education, Dr.

L. Ferguson of Northside Urgent Care recommended the pod be closed until

a " heating and air conditioning expert be brought in to evaluate and eliminate

this problem. "

The patient's name was redacted in a copy obtained by The Fayetteville Observer

from the state.

" It has been brought to my attention that my patient ... has been repeatedly

exposed to black mold at one of the buildings at her place of work, " he wrote.

" She noted in an area referred to as the POD, which is associated with T.C.

Berrien School facility, there is black mold visible on the walls and dampness

in the walls and carpeting. "

The patient developed nose and breathing problems, Ferguson wrote.

" The concern to me is that the school administrators are apparently aware of

this environmental problem, but have taken no proactive steps to correct it. ...

It is unconscionable to believe that this problem has been neglected at the

health expense of our children and their teachers, " he wrote.

Temporary removal

Tim Kinlaw, the associate superintendent who oversees school buildings, said

students were removed from the pod shortly after a teacher and two support staff

complained in late August. Some educators have been assigned to other areas to

lessen their exposure to the pod.

The students are slated to return to the pod after a three-week break that

starts Monday for year-round schools. A new roof, new tile and new carpeting

will be installed in the pod before children return, Kinlaw said.

Caldwell started working at the school in April. She said she immediately

noticed a mildew smell when she visited the pod. She quickly requested a work

order, she said.

" I wanted the carpet removed and taken out of there, " she said.

A leaky roof was reported last year, and repairs were scheduled soon after,

Kinlaw said. Work originally was slated to begin during the break, Kinlaw said.

Because of the relocation, the work already has started, he said.

" These teachers, some of them have been working in this building for two or

three years and have never had a problem, " Kinlaw said. " Whatever is happening,

evidently, with them has just started happening. "

Symptoms

Leanne Whitley, a 46-year-old teaching assistant with two first-grade classes

assigned to the pod, said rainwater often leaks into the building. Three of the

four classrooms had leaks, and the carpet was damp in spots, Whitley said.

She said she and four other staff members were sickened or had milder symptoms

that they believed were caused by mold exposure. Whitley said she became sick 30

minutes after arriving at school Aug. 14. Her doctor originally treated her for

a sinus problem, she said, but she started coughing up blood and had nosebleeds.

" I've had colds, but I have never been that sick, " she said.

When a teacher mentioned that the mold smell was giving her a headache, Whitley

said she began to believe she had been misdiagnosed. She said she is allergic to

mold.

Over the next two weeks, Whitley visited an urgent care at least four times,

according to doctor's notes. She missed about two weeks of work and received

multiple breathing treatments, a chest X-ray and a CT scan, she said. A

physician's assistant treating her wrote a letter stating that she wasn't to go

back in the pod.

" The thing that concerns me is if I wouldn't have heard (a teacher) say mold, I

wouldn't know what I was sick from, " Whitley said. " If there are other kids who

were sick like me, if they had asthma and were treated for a cold, maybe they

had allergies.

" It has to be somebody's responsibility to tell these parents, " Whitley said.

Caldwell, the principal, said custodians and maintenance workers repair leaks

and clean the carpet. Parents haven't been told about mold because there is no

mold, Caldwell said.

" I had no complaints from parents, " she said. " No kids have been sick since I

have been here. "

She and Kinlaw said fewer children in the pod have been absent this year,

compared with last year.

Specialist visit

Tony Ferguson, an environmental health specialist with the Cumberland County

Health Department, visited the building Sept. 2 after two people complained

about mold problems, he said.

" A musty smell was noticed upon entering the building, " his report said. " Water

stains were observed at the peak roof and ceiling tiles in numerous areas. "

Water streaks also were seen on walls near the air conditioning system, the

report said.

After the visit, he called the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Because of the roof leaks, it is likely that the building has a mold problem,

Ferguson said, but his office doesn't have the expertise to handle it.

" We are not at the expert level, " Ferguson said. " We think there might be a

problem here, but we are not for sure, now. "

Lipton, a state industrial hygiene consultant, said the only two people in

his office who investigate mold claims are overwhelmed with work. It is doubtful

they would conduct a site visit, he said.

" This situation is really clear - the school needs to deal with the roof leaks, "

Lipton said. " If they have wet carpet that has been repeatedly wet multiple

times, they have got to get the carpet out. All of the testing for mold and

looking around, is it going to add a lot of value to the situation? Probably

not. "

Staff writer A. Reid can be reached at reids@... or 486-3569.