PVHS: There's mold in them there halls

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PVHS: There's mold in them there halls

By HENRY BREAN, Managing Editor January 25, 2002

Two Pahrump Valley High School students walk past an Environmental Health

Services vehicle as they leave the campus shortly after it was closed

Wednesday due to the discovery of toxic mold in the building. (PVT photo by

Henry Brean)

School evacuated with no firm date to reopen; data indicates serious ill

effects unlikely

Pahrump Valley High School has been closed indefinitely after concentrations

of toxic mold were discovered at opposite ends of the building.

The school's roughly 900 students were dismissed and the building locked

down by about noon Wednesday. Less than 24 hours before, district officials

were notified of preliminary test results indicating the presence of

Stachybotrys chartarum, a type of potentially hazardous mold also found last

year at the Nye County Government Complex in Pahrump.

" Today was a very turbulent and impactful day here, " Supt. LeRoy Key told

school board members during a special meeting Wednesday night. " We have a

formidable task in front of us. "

Students have been dismissed until Wednesday morning, when they will report

to the gym at Hafen Elementary School, next door to PVHS, for what Key

described as " classroom assignment. " In the interim, teachers and

administrators will explore various ways of holding classes while the school

is closed.

Key floated two such contingency plans on Wednesday - one short-term and one

long-term.

If PVHS is to remain closed for just a short time, high school classes would

be held in the portable classrooms behind PVHS, at the Community College of

Southern Nevada's Pahrump Learning Center adjacent to the high school, and

in any available space at Hafen Elementary.

In the event of a long-term closure, the K-5 students at Hafen would be

moved into another local elementary school, possibly Mt. ton

Elementary, and Hafen would become a temporary high school.

By Monday, district officials hope to know more about the amount of cleaning

and repairs that will be required to reopen the school. " The final lab

results are still pending, " Key said. " Repairs may be extensive or they may

not. Restoration may take weeks or, as in the case of the county complex, it

may take months. "

The mold spores were discovered in a sample taken last week by Environmental

Health Services, Inc., (EHS) which was hired by the district to investigate

areas of visible mold in parts of the school that sustained water damage

about four years ago. EHS reported the preliminary test results to the

district Tuesday afternoon, prompting an emergency meeting of administrators

that lasted until about 10 p.m.

Key said the final decision to evacuate the school was made at about 10 a.m.

Wednesday morning, and by 11 an announcement had been made and buses were

available to take students home.

Toxic mold was found in the hallways on three sides of the gym and in the

athletic training room at the east end of the school. Another concentration

of Stachybotrys chartarum was found in the hallway and classrooms at the

west end of the school known as the 600 wing.

The contamination at the east end of the school may be the result of water

damage from September 1997, when floodwater ruined the wood floor in the

gym. " Contamination ... there was at a very high level, " Key said.

Mold-spore concentrations were also high throughout the entire 600 wing,

particularly in four classrooms at the northwest end of the school. Spores

were found within the airflow system in that part of the building, Key said.

According to Don Brod, maintenance and operations supervisor for the

district, that part of the school also sustained water damage about four

years ago, but not as a result of the flood. Several months after the

flooding, a pipe froze and then burst in the 600 wing.

Key said Stachybotrys chartarum spores can be carried on the soles of shoes

or picked up and scattered by the " passive convection " of an airflow system.

EHS officials reportedly told the district that the contaminated areas could

be closed off and classes held in the central part of the school, but Key

said that idea was discarded because of the potential risk to students and

faculty.

The closure apparently rattled the nerves of local parents. Staff members at

PVHS and the district office in Pahrump fielded numerous calls on Wednesday

and Thursday from those worried about the situation. Some called with

questions about how long students would be out of school; others wanted to

know whether they should take their children to the doctor.

According to information from the national Centers for Disease Control,

exposure to mold can lead to a number of nonspecific symptoms, but there is

no proven link between toxic mold and serious illnesses. People with

allergies, chronic respiratory disease or suppressed immune systems may be

at greater risk of infection from molds.

Hay-fever-like allergy symptoms (sinus infection, headaches, bloody noses,

sores in the nasal passages, even difficulty breathing) are the common

health problems associated with mold exposure. The CDC recommends that those

with persistent symptoms should see a physician.

The apparent good news, said Wednesday, is that the type of mold

found at PVHS apparently is not as hazardous as some of the other types

found at the county complex. " This is a little more easily dealt with. "

added that, according to the information she has seen, any symptoms

go away almost immediately upon removal from the cause. " There are no

chronic, lingering effects. "

Already, some have tried to link the mold contamination to the death last

year of PVHS senior Corrina Lorenz. The girl collapsed and died at school on

Oct. 25 of what was later determined to be a severe asthma attack.

There is no evidence to indicate that mold spores may have triggered or

exacerbated Lorenz's attack, and Key declined to comment on such

supposition. However, the girl's death may have indirectly lead to the

discovery of the mold last week.

On Nov. 15, preliminary samples were taken in the part of the school where

Lorenz died after a teacher sent a memo to PVHS Principal Jerry Hill

expressing concern about possible mold contamination. EHS presented a final

report on that sampling to the district on Dec. 20. In it, the company

concludes that " no significant airborne fungal contamination was found in

the air or on surfaces sampled. The small areas of water damage in the (part

of the building sampled) were minor, and the water damaged ceiling tiles

were replaced during this investigation. "

Last year's sampling did not include the east and west ends of the school,

but Brod said it was always the district's intent to eventually test the

entire building. The visual signs of mold ultimately prompted last week's

testing.

Brod indicated that additional tests have been ordered, and may be conducted

as soon as today, on the portable classrooms at PVHS and for the Hafen

School. Those tests are described as merely precautionary.

Key has reported the mold situation to the state superintendent, the Nye

County Commission and the Nye County Sheriff's Office, and " we've requested

assistance, " he said.

Board President Sollinger said she received a call from county

commission Chairman Jeff Taguchi, who told her that emergency funding for

the district would be considered during the commission's Feb. 5 meeting in

Tonopah.

Board member Janine Hartley asked whether the district's insurance policy

covers mold cleanup. Key said that was a " good question " - one that could

have far-reaching legal ramifications.

Finding enough space to hold classes will be difficult, but said a

concerted effort will be made to maintain the current school calendar.

Delaying the end of the school year could adversely impact graduation and

college application, said.

Another serious logistical problem concerns textbooks, computers and other

school materials. Until they are deemed safe, no such materials are to be

removed from the building. As a result, Key said the district will have to

use any extra materials it can find at its four other high schools and

possibly borrow additional textbooks and materials from other Nevada school

districts.

" We'll have to scrounge around and see what we can get, " he said. " Otherwise

we're going to have to go back to the old-fashioned way of teaching. That

should be interesting for both the teachers and the students. "

©Pahrump Valley Times 2002

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