North field School IAQ problems continue

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Officials: Mold no cause for alarm

MICHAEL HOLTZMAN, Staff Writer March 28, 2002

NORTH SMITHFIELD -- School officials said this week that they cleaned up with amonium chloride a 2- by 6-inch, non-toxic section of mold above a blackboard in a North field Elementary School classroom more than a week ago.

While Superintendent M. Scherza called the few spotted spores of mold "minuscule" and the problem a limited one, an e-mail sent by a School Health and Safety Association (SHASA) member painted an alarming message that triggered criticism and action by the School Committee Tuesday night.

"Perhaps some of you should know the mold is back in full force at North field Elementary School," said the e-mail that Sharon Cross of Lincoln Drive, a SHASA member, sent to 17 people on Monday, according to School Committee Vice Chairman E. Vadenais.

Committeewoman A. Bonas, a SHASA member who confirmed receiving that e-mail message and was the lone school board person voting against a School Committee directive, questioned Cross' conclusion.

"When I got that e-mail, I called Rick Scherza right away." When the superintendent told her about the trace spores that had been identified above the chalk board in Room 6 at NSES, Bonas said, "That calmed me down."

The issue of concern revolved around NSES needing to be shut down for a week last year after potentially dangerous mold spores and high levels of mold were found in Rooms 6 and 12 at NSES. Teachers and parents reported respiratory problems, including pneumonia, that they questioned being attributable to the mold problem.

Subsequently, the leaking roof, considered the key part of the problem that causes dampness and mold, was recently replaced.

Scherza said when they found the most recent "few dots of mold" and "less than 6 inches" on a cork surface, the school department called in its industrial hygenist to test and clean it with the prescribed solution on March 17.

He said the wetting of the board and porous cork surface made it "likely (for mold) to occur again," but that it was a trace amount and not a danger, according to the town's environmental consultant, Hamilton of Occu-Health in Mansfield, Mass.

Scherza said school officials also contacted the state Department of Health and Environmental Protection Agency and that no further testing through the school was required "unless you have a pathology or reason to test."

"There's no truth to the rumor that mold was overtaking the school," he said after Committeewoman B. Meo said she had heard rumors from concerned citizens.

Bonas said Tuesday night that after she spoke with Scherza, "I e-mailed Sharon and ette (Hamilton-Kell, SHASA president) to correct the misinformation" previously distributed. Bonas said she did not know if the information was corrected to the people who received the original e-mails.

Cross had e-mailed Hamilton to obtain an explanation about the mold reports, and the consultant responded, Bonas and other School Committee members said

That communication, and the resulting e-mails, caused Committeeman S. Ezovski to express disappointment that Hamilton had corresponded that way with the public. He, Vadenais, Meo and Chairwoman M. Charest voted to direct Scherza to inform Hamilton that any testing evaluations and results be given only to Scherza and Facilities Director Boss.

Bonas, one of eight founding members of SHASA and elected to the school board in November, disagreed. "Tom Hamilton has an open e-mail. In most cases, he's giving information to put out fires rather than to start fires," she said.

But Ezovski said there have been examples of citizens using "bits and pieces of information to sensationalize issues."

Vadenais offered examples of SHASA members contacting the Tennessee Gas Co. last year to report an alleged gas line leak that proved untrue and caused the company to send an emergency crew from Boston. In another instance this month, Vadenais said citizens have called the structural engineer for the NSES roof and demanded a copy of the report, saying they were council President N. Renaud.

Renaud never requested such a copy of the report, Vadenais said. "This is a motive used for the last year, trying to get information and using it wrong," he said. "This has got to stop."

Bonas said she agreed the Tennessee Gas alarm "got blown out of proportion." She said of Cross, who has handled research on mold since it became a major problem, "Sharon tends to be a very reactive person and she embellishes."

She also agreed with Charest that when information goes first to citizens and then to School Committee members, that can cause communications problems.

Still, the newest School Committee person said she was disappointed that Scherza and the other board members rejected testing the school further for mold.

"I would be much happier if they would do one more round to confirm that we don't have anything to worry about," Bonas said. She did not know that cost.

©The Call 2002

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