Lake Park Elementary School in Naples, Florida

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http://www.naplesnews.com/02/04/naples/d762265a.htm

Elementary students with respiratory trouble removed from portable after

mold discovered

School Board orders staff to accelerate classroom addition to Lake Park

Elementary

Friday, April 12, 2002

By RAY PARKER, brparker@...

The Collier County School Board on Thursday directed staff to accelerate a

classroom addition to Lake Park Elementary School, where officials

discovered a portable with air-quality problems and students with

respiratory trouble.

In addition, Pinecrest and Golden Gate elementary schools have portable

classrooms with problems, officials said.

Lake Park Principal Gasparino said air tests last month found one

spore of the Stachybotrys mold in one portable, where 25 students were

housed.

Mold exposure does not always present a health problem indoors, according to

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, but some people are

sensitive to molds and may experience symptoms including nasal stuffiness,

eye irritation or wheezing.

" I immediately walked down and got the kids out, " Gasparino said Thursday,

referring to his reaction to the March 21 air-quality report.

Before that report, no parents had complained of any health concerns

commonly associated with mold exposure, Gasparino said, which include hay

fever-like allergic symptoms. He estimated a handful of parents have since

expressed health concerns about their children.

But board member Abbott, whose 10-year-old son, Forrest was in the

contaminated portable, said the number of students and teachers complaining

of health problems has reached 40 to 50.

During Thursday's board workshop, which dealt with the district's

construction plan for the next 20 years, Abbott said district officials

should consider alternatives to handling portables, such as buying ones made

of mold-resistant materials.

" I don't have the answer and I wish I did, " Abbott said. " I'm seeing sick

children and teachers. "

Board members agreed, but they said student growth makes portables

necessary.

" Everybody on this board would like to see portables gone, and we're making

every effort to do that, " Don York said. " We can't build schools fast

enough. "

Member Pam said: " I don't want a problem with sick buildings any more

than anyone else. "

The board directed staff to look into accelerating the Lake Park classroom

addition to accommodate 200 students that was slated originally for 2005.

The board didn't take a formal vote Thursday because the meeting was a

workshop.

Here's how Gasparino said the Lake Park portable situation progressed:

In September, the Lake Park school advisory council pushed for air quality

tests on the school's six portable classrooms and the test results were

good.

In February, two teachers complained about problems and asked for additional

tests, which came back on March 21, when one portable was found to have one

spore of the Stachybotrys mold.

On Tuesday, Gasparino held a parents' meeting to let them know about the

portables.

School maintenance is now gutting the one portable, as well as an additional

three portables that didn't have air quality problems, as a precautionary

measure.

" They'll be virtually new portables, " Gasparino said.

In a week or so, the rebuilt portables will go through several air quality

tests before students return, he said.

Abbott criticized the way the board and the district handles the district's

211 portables, but she praised Gasparino's response to the problem.

" (District officials) responded but not with an attitude to move forward so

it doesn't happen again, " Abbott said. " We need to be able to talk about the

issue. "

Lake Park parent Ellen Goetz praised the way Gasparino handled the

situation.

" I guess my concerns are just that the portables are indeed a safe

environment and that they're cleaned up, " Goetz said.

During Thursday's workshop, school officials mentioned two other schools

with air-quality problems in portables.

Malick, the district's director of maintenance and operations, said

he knew one portable at Golden Gate Elementary was being remodeled, and

wasn't sure about Pinecrest Elementary, where Chairwoman Anne Goodnight said

teachers had complained about respiratory problems.

Malick referred questions about Pinecrest to Eli Mobley, director of risk

management, who was unavailable for comment.

During most of Thursday's workshop, school officials gave an overview of

school construction for the next 20 years; reviewed what land the district

needs for those schools; explained how the district will incorporate

technology, such as networking needs; and outlined the maintenance schedule

for older schools.

A couple of the changes to this year's capital, or construction, plan

involve opening elementary school " F " two years ahead of schedule, from 2007

to 2005. It will be built in Golden Gate Estates. In addition, elementary

school " K " will be added to the plan, and is scheduled to open in Immokalee

in 2017.

Those interested in a copy of the 378-page Capital Plan can call 643-2700.

Those interested in toxic molds can log on to the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention Web site at:

www.cdc.gov/nceh/asthmaold/factsheets/molds/default.htm.