Sunset Elementary School Closed by Mold

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http://www.wisinfo.com/northwestern/local/020902-1.html

Sat 9-Feb-2002

Mold forces district to close Sunset for rest of year

By Grekso and Bradley of the Northwestern

Sunset Elementary School students will attend classes at a vacant school at

St. Catholic Church for the remainder of the year after a mold

outbreak forced the closure of Sunset by school officials on Friday.

Superintendent of Schools Heilmann said school has been canceled

Monday and Tuesday for Sunset students to give staff time to move the school

's computers, desks, and other materials to the building at 449 High St.

The closure of the school marks a hectic two weeks since mold was discovered

in a wing of the school. Crews began cleaning mold in the school last week,

but tests taken late this week found levels of mold considered unsafe.

The district moved about 65 kindergarten and first-grade students to

Tipler Middle School Monday as a preventive measure. As more testing was

done and results became available of potential health risks, school

officials decided to move the remaining students to Tipler on Friday.

Heilmann said it's unclear if Sunset, 3596 Highway 110, can ever be occupied

again. The district is waiting for information to come the week of Feb. 18

to make a final determination on the future of the school.

Sunset Principal Sue Knippel said the move was sparked by parents' fears,

some of which have been abated.

However, school officials said three of four staff members who worked in the

mold infested areas have been sick with very specific complaints that could

have been caused by long-term exposure to mold.

In addition, officials said about five students have been ill as well. Those

children may have been allergic to the mold or had an asthma condition that

can be made worse because of long-term exposure to mold.

" We can't overreact to that, " Knippel said at a press conference Friday

evening. " We can't just take out the students who have allergies. "

Different spores of molds were found in the school's gymnasium, cafeteria, a

classroom and the corridor outside the classroom.

Tammy Emery, a parent of a fourth-grader at Sunset, said she has a lot of

allergies herself, and is concerned about her son.

" He has been pretty ill this year, whether or not it's related I don't

know, " Emery said.

Until the end of the year, 157 students will occupy the 11 classrooms and

gymnasium the school district rented from the church for $40,000.

" The school is more than adequate, " Heilmann said.

Results from tape samples taken Thursday should be ready Monday, said Jerry

Hinke, an environmental consultant form American Air Environmental. The

samples were taken from second- through fifth-grade classrooms, and are

being tested by the state laboratory in Madison.

Heilmann said the district will respect the former religious use of the

building, but he also noted representatives of St. s have agreed to

remove any religious artwork or materials from the classrooms.

The school formerly was used as St. Neumann Middle School, and now is

used for parish functions such as religious education classes said Sheila

Steinert, a religious education secretary at the church.

The church still will use the school for the classes, which are held two

evenings a week Steinert said, and won't conflict with the students of

Sunset. The church originally was contacted by the school district Thursday,

Steinert said, but no definite plans were made until Friday.

Sunset was slated to be replaced in a failed November referendum.

The school board was considering scheduling a spring referendum to include,

among other things, the construction of additional space to close the aging

Sunset.

The board decided Wednesday to put off an April vote and focus on a November

ballot issue to address the problems at Sunset and crowding in some district

elementary schools.

Grekso: (920) 426-6656 or egrekso@....