Parents demand action while students suffer

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Parents demand action while students suffer

Doniger, Staff Writer February 20, 2002

(see photo)

....and after.

Like any other first-grader, Sozanski, 6, likes to go to school to

learn and spend time playing his classmates.

But since the day he first entered Tashua Elementary School as a

kindergartner in September 2000, his time there has been spoiled by his

severe allergic reaction to the school's indoor air quality (IAQ).

had food allergies as a baby, which he has mostly outgrown,

according to his mother, Judy Sozanski. But that was nothing compared to the

acute allergic reaction he experienced upon going to school at Tashua.

His school experience has been anything but conducive to learning or

socialization, Sozanski said.

His sensitivity to IAQ problems at the school, thought to be caused by or

related to the presence of toxic mold releases its spores in the air, have

forced his parents, under doctor's orders, to remove him from the school for

a good part of his kindergarten and first-grade years.

" can feel the allergic reaction coming on, " Sozanski said. " He said

it feels like he's swelling. "

In fact, the swelling gets so profound, he can't even wear his glasses, she

said.

His allergic reaction at Tashua began as a stuffy nose, cold symptoms,

cough, red nose, and swollen eyes that became so acute he actually went into

anaphylactic shock twice last year, Sozanski said.

Following a healthy summer, began getting sick again at the

beginning of the current school year.

and his 9-year-old sister, April, who has more moderate allergies,

currently attend Tashua for four hours a day, with the remainder of their

learning entrusted to their parents.

They only go to a portion of the building where indoor air quality cleanup

and carpet removal has already taken place.

's doctor, Santilli, chief of allergy and immunology at St.

's Medical Center, urged the Sozanskis to remove from school

last February and again this year after his symptoms returned shortly after

returning to Tashua.

's situation is not unique.

Another extreme reaction

The Epifano family faces a different but equally daunting challenge with

their 9-year-old daughter, who has experienced a skin reaction to the IAQ at

Tashua School so extreme that she is not able to enter the building at all.

Born with eczema, the girl's condition was under control, the Epifanos said,

until she entered first grade at Tashua.

The situation was not severe in kindergarten, when the classroom rugs were

new and the child was only in school for several hours a day, they said.

At first, they didn't know what was causing her to feel itchy all the time,

and to scratch her skin to the point that it became infected. She developed

severe bacterial infections, even leading to a staph infection, diagnosed by

her doctors at Yale, they said.

They went from doctor to doctor, attempting to determine cause and effect,

and medicated her every time she went to school.

" We tried everything, " Epifano said. Eventually, the doctors at Yale

suggested the Epifanos remove their daughter from the school environment

last May as a test for cause and effect. Within a short time, her skin was

clear. More importantly, she was taken off the high doses of medication,

Epifano said.

The Yale doctors took before and after school pictures at the start of the

2001 school year. The pictures show the girl with clear skin before school

started and profound skin lesions shortly after she returned to school.

The girl currently learns through the services of a homebound tutor, three

hours a day, and her mother fills in with the rest of her education.

However, she has lost the opportunity for exposure to her classmates, which

her parents believe is an important part of the educational experience.

" She's having a tough time, " Epifano said. " It's a very emotional

thing to deal with. "

Both families noticed their children felt better on the weekends, on school

vacations and over the summer. Neither child ever had such an allergic

reaction anywhere else, they said.

Parents frustrated

Although their children's reactions to the school's IAQ are different, both

families have been frustrated by what they felt was a lack of support from

the school administration.

" We went to [school Supt.] Ralph Iassogna after [our daughter] started to

break out and found him to be very confrontational and combative, "

Epifano said. " He said [she] was the only child affected by this problem. "

The Epifanos said they believed the problem wasn't important to him, because

he felt it was only an isolated issue.

They subsequently filed a complaint in September with the U.S. Office of

Civil Rights.

The Sozanskis likewise filed a complaint with the OCR, which is

investigating both cases, according to OCR spokesman .

" We had nowhere to turn, " Sozanski said. " OSHA doesn't protect students,

because they're not employees. "

Iassogna said corrective action is being taken at the school, at the

recommendation of two agencies, AMC and Occupational Risk Control Services,

which conducted studies of the school's air quality.

All the recommendations from these agencies have been, or will be taken,

Iassogna said.

Sozanski said more of the school, including the gym, cafeteria, and library,

must have its air quality tested before she can safely send her children

back to school full-time.

" All I want is for my son to go to school like everyone else, " she said. " My

concern is for my son to receive an appropriate education in the least

restricted areas possible.

" My son's worst responsive reactions are in the gymnasium. The school is

refusing, to the best of my knowledge, to take care of the situation that

causes severe allergic reactions and to respond to the recommendations that

would make it safe for him to be in there. "

Iassogna responds

Iassogna took issue with some of the parents' comments.

" I believe some of their responses have been erroneous and at times verbally

abusive, especially those against the Tashua PTA, its officers, [principal]

Mrs. Norcell and the people hired to do the testing, " he said.

He said school officials last year made a concentrated effort to be

proactive in addressing indoor air quality problems.

" As soon as the matter came to my attention, I brought in an industrial

hygienist, " he said. " I can't get into the specifics because of

confidentiality rights, but there wasn't any conclusive evidence related to

Tashua versus incidents outside of school.

" There is no question there is a problem with students and their health, and

I am very concerned about that. "

He said school officials put a procedure in place last year as soon as the

situation came to his attention, though one of the studies took longer than

expected.

" I certainly respect the parents' concerns and right to wish everything

could have been expedited, but sometimes things can be beyond our control, "

Iassogna said.

Pat McCauley, a parent of twin kindergartners, said she is glad the school

is removing the carpet from her children's classroom this week. Although she

cannot pin it on a specific cause, she said her children have been sick

often this school year.

" I'm glad they didn't cut the budget anymore, " she said. " We may need to set

aside additional funding to fix the schools. It's one more thing to worry

about. "

Another parent, Val Newman, said she, too, is glad the testing is going on,

and she hopes it extends to the gym and library.

" I love Tashua, and I love Mrs. Norcell, but I'm concerned about the school

environment, " Newman said. " I'm not sure if Tashua is the only school in

Trumbull that has an issue with indoor air quality. "

©Trumbull Times 2002