Mold, leaks force switch in class sites

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Mold, leaks force switch in class sites

Moss Side Elementary pupils moving Tuesday

By Ruane, Staff writer February 20, 2002

Moss Side Elementary School students will attend classes at Moss Side Middle

School and University Park Elementary School, starting next Tuesday, Feb.

26. The elementary students won't have classes next Monday, Feb. 25, and

will remain at the middle school and University Park while Moss Side

Elementary's leaking roof is replaced.

The work is expected to take 30 to 60 days. Gateway School Board ordered

the students' move and the roof's replacement during Monday's study session.

Discovery of black mold in parts of Moss Side Elementary prompted the

decision.

The district had been monitoring the air at Moss Side Elementary since

December, when staff members expressed concern about headaches, runny noses

and flu-like symptoms.

Results of that monitoring had been negative until last week, when a

custodian found black mold growing in a girls restroom. Testing showed low

levels of spores from the mold on one day, but results the next day once

again were negative.

" We speculated that the positive test may have occurred due to the

disturbance of the mold by the physical inspection of the area, " said Dr.

Domencic, superintendent.

Additional visual inspection found the mold in part of a hallway, the

library and a classroom. All those areas were sealed off.

Because of concerns about the mold's rapid growth and the potential

disruption involved in moving students from one area to another if the roof

were repaired in sections, the board decided to move classes to Moss Side

Middle School and replace the entire roof as a whole.

Domencic assured parents and the community that the Moss Side

Elementary building poses no serious health risks, saying the district's

actions to correct the problem are proactive.

Gateway officials contacted the federal Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention and the Allegheny County Health Department to investigate,

but both agencies indicated there are no standards for hazards posed by mold

in schools and spores found in testing of air.

" In the absence of these standards, we believe that as a school

district ,we have to create our own standards, " Domencic said.

The Moss Side Elementary roof has been problematic for several years

and drop ceilings inside the school are in poor condition.

The board chose Triangle Roofing Inc. to handle the roof's

replacement, which is expected to cost about $250,000.

Beginning next Tuesday, nine classrooms' worth of second- through

fourth-graders will attend classes in the music and art rooms and old

computer lab at Moss Side Middle, according to Cleveland Steward, assistant

superintendent.

The elementary students will eat in part of Moss Side Middle's gym and

have their own restrooms. The middle school's art and music teachers will go

to individual classrooms, instead of having students come to them.

" We are ready for the move and just need to fine tune some details, "

he said.

Moss Side Elementary's three first-grade classes will move to

University Park Elementary.

Officials still have to determine where Moss Side Elementary

kindergarten students will have classes.

As of Tuesday, all Moss Side Elementary students will be bused to Moss

Side Middle School each morning. Youngsters whose classes are being

relocated elsewhere will take other buses from Moss Side Middle to their

respective schools.

After school, buses will take Moss Side Elementary students home

directly, without all going to Moss Side Middle first.

Domencic commended Steward and Libby Coates, principal at Moss Side

Elementary, for their moment-by-moment monitoring of the situation and their

quick solution for continuing classes while the roof work is carried out.

©Times Express Star 2002