Denair Unified School District cleaning up mold

March 24, 2002

School cleaning up mold

March 23, 2002 Posted: 02:30:08 AM PST

By PATRICK GIBLIN

BEE STAFF WRITER

DENAIR -- A mold cleanup job should be completed next month at the

elementary school here, allowing students to move back to their classrooms.

Parraz, superintendent of the Denair Unified School District, said

two rooms are expected to be ready April 8, the first day of school after

spring break. The other two should be ready by the end of April.

Officials emptied the four classroom wing at Denair Elementary in

mid-February and moved the 80 second- and third-graders to vacant portable

classrooms at Denair High School, adjacent to the elementary school.

The school district tested the wing for mold in February after a teacher

exhibited severe allergy symptoms; a check of student absences showed no

spike in illnesses, according to school officials.

Parraz said crews discovered mold under the roof, apparently the result of

water seeping through cracks around air conditioning units.

" We have patched everything really good and will clean the vent system, " he

said.

School officials suspect rare snowfall in January of contributing to the

problem atop the wing's V-shaped roof. The snow amounted to less than an

inch, but it piled up in the bottom of the V, then melted and seeped into

the roof.

Cleanup workers removed the insulation from the underside of the roof.

" Basically, we have taken down the ceiling in the wing and you can see the

rafters and the wood underneath, " Parraz said.

Fungicide is being applied, and the wing has been sealed to prevent the

chemical from leaking out. Work crews found no wood rot, Parraz said.

The district is removing the rooftop air conditioners and replacing them

with wall units, he said.

The school district installed the rooftop units several decades ago. The

wing was built 50 years ago without air conditioning, Parraz said.

Another wing at Denair Elementary has the same design as the mold-infested

wing, but tests did not reveal high mold levels.

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