Mold problem solved at school; staff still looking for more

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Mold problem solved at school; staff still looking for more

2001-11-30

by

of The Daily Times Staff

Blount County Schools personnel are keeping an eye out for mold problems in

school facilities.

Problems with moisture and mold cropped up at the beginning of the school

year at Walland Elementary School, but have been fixed, Interim Director of

Schools Ben Dalton said.

The problems resulted from the new air conditioning system at the school.

The problems occurred because dampers -- components of the air conditioning

system -- were letting in too much moisture.

``They had them open too much to begin with and the system wasn't able to

take all the moisture out of the air,'' Dalton said. ``After we got those

dampers adjusted, we pretty much got that under control. Since the cold

weather has come, it has helped us a lot.''

The moisture damaged books and other paper products in the school and

contributed to the growth of mold.

The school system consulted with the Public Building Authority to find a

solution to the problem.

The problem went away once the adjustments were made, Principal Phyllis

Garner said.

``Almost overnight, the problems disappeared,'' she said.

No health risk reported

At no time was there a health risk to students because of the mold,

according to Garner.

``If there were any health risks, I'd still be on the phone with people

three times a day,'' she said.

The matter had been a concern because certain types of mold can cause health

problems, particularly in people with respiratory sensitivities.

There had been no excessive absences or allergies attributed to the mold at

Walland, Garner said.

``It didn't seem to have affected people's health,'' she said.

Part of the problem resulted from the air conditioning usage patterns,

Dalton said.

``With an energy management system, they don't want to leave that air

conditioning on 24 hours a day, but with the high humidity and the high

heat, we ended up having to run some systems a lot longer,'' he said.

The heat and humidity forced the school to run the air units longer than

originally planned even on the weekends, Dalton said.

``We're trying to utilize energy management as much as possible because it

is a substantial savings,'' he said. ``However, any time it becomes a health

hazard, we've got to bite the bullet and do what we have to do to keep it

safe.''

Monitoring continues

Although the problem is solved, the district will closely monitor the

schools to ensure students sensitive to mold and other environmental factors

are protected, according to officials.

``I had a student at Heritage years ago (who) could tell us when a filter

was getting to need to be changed just because of the allergies they had,''

Dalton said. ``You've got to try to do the best you can and try to keep the

air as clean and fresh as possible.''

Dalton said administrators are watching the situation at Montvale and

Friendsville elementary school, which also have new air conditioning

systems, to make sure the children are protected.

``Anytime you've got a building you're going to have to deal with all those

kinds of problems,'' he said. ``We've felt pretty good about the situation

and what we're doing.''