Brittin Elementary School (Hinesville, Georgia)

May 19, 2002

61952 & rfi=6

May 17, 2002

Post schools closing early

By Joe Jr.

" Extremely unusual circumstances related to the air quality at Brittin

Elementary School, " will bring the Fort school year to a close three

days early.

In a letter dated Wednesday, School Superintendent Dr. Ward said the

air quality situation at Brittin had an impact on the installation's other

school, Diamond Elementary, and that the school year would end next Friday.

Students had been scheduled to return after Memorial Day for three days the

next week.

An still unspecified number of students at Brittin have been moved to

Diamond Elementary and the Fort Youth Center, pending work on the

HVAC system at Brittin.

The early end of classes will allow teachers and staff to finish up their

work and close the school so it can be handed over to contractors who will

replace the 93 heat, air conditioning and ventilation units.

The HVAC system is being replaced following numerous complaints of allergy

and respiratory symptoms at Brittin. The school currently has a " closed "

type HVAC system that lets in no fresh air.

The $3.8 million project is expected to take three months to two years.

Officials now say they hope to begin by late May.

The portable classroom units at Brittin remain sealed off because of a mold

that investigators found there. J.J. Sosa and Associates Co. is

decontaminating those classrooms.

Sosa is an engineering and contracting firm which does pollution abatement,

explosive ordnance disposal, health and safety assessments and similar work.

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