Air quality at school under fire

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May 22, 2002

Air quality at school under fire

Mold, mildew in East Haven sickens kids

Joe McGurk, Register Staff

EAST HAVEN - Deer Run Elementary School parents say mold and mildew in

classrooms are making students and teachers sick, and they're asking

administrators to take steps to solve the problem.

They have banded together and formed the Indoor Air Quality Committee to

press school officials for an air quality investigation.

Schools officials said they have been doing everything possible to ensure

the building is not plagued with pervasive mold growth, including

formulating a plan to overhaul classroom vent ducts this summer.

Led by Parent-Teacher Organization members, parents have found that asthma

and other respiratory ailment symptoms are on the rise among the

approximately 400 students enrolled in the school, and 18 of 25 or so

teachers also complain of symptoms typical of working in a " sick school. "

Teachers first noticed moldy supplies and damp and smelly carpets in Room

26. Teachers who work in the room have been diagnosed with asthma and suffer

from upper respiratory symptoms, committee members said.

Eighteen teachers recently filled out a health questionnaire the committee

distributed. The committee reported that teachers complained of multiple

chronic symptoms, including 14 teachers who suffer headaches, 13 have eye,

nose and throat irritation, 11 suffer sinus pressure, 10 have upper

respiratory infections and 12 experience fatigue.

Also, five of the teachers reported that they felt nauseous, suffer from

dizziness, hypersensitivity, asthma symptoms, persistent coughing,

congestion and shortness of breath.

An open letter that Deer Run school nurse Shirley Forte gave parents says

asthma symptoms have increased at the school.

Currently 40 children suffer such symptoms and 22 are taking medication.

Forte said the increase is attributed to dust mites and mold and mildew in

classrooms.

Students who have known allergies are advised not to sit on the carpet, her

letter says, " as this will initiate itchy, watery eyes, trouble breathing,

coughing and wheezing. " She said the students' symptoms decrease when they

are at home.

On Tuesday, Forte declined comment " until all the studies are done. "

Deer Run School PTO President DePalma also declined to comment

Tuesday. She referred questions to PTO member Sharon Aceto, who has been

active in the investigation, but Aceto could not be reached.

The director of the East Shore Health District, Jim Monopoli, said he hasn't

taken an in-depth look at the school. But after being asked by school

officials to take a limited tour of the problematic rooms, he made some

recommendations after seeing problems typical of old buildings.

He said mold was present, but it did not appear to be widespread; school

officials should check the moisture content of rooms and do work on

ventilation systems, he said.

He wants the school join a Tools for School program, a federal Environmental

Protection Agency-sponsored system of fighting mold in schools by training

teachers and other staff how to monitor air quality.

School officials, however, said they have tried but met contractual problems

when asking teachers to take on more work.

Joe Travaglino, the town's director of Building and Grounds, said following

a meeting with parents last month, " we immediately got started on resolution

of the problems.

" We had a housekeeping problem. We are short a custodian.

The school wasn't getting cleaned the way it should have, " he said.

" We're prepared to do a lot of things, any obvious signs of mold . we plan

to get out. "

Travaglino said that in 2000, every school's air ventilation system was

checked. Problems were found but no money was available for repairs, he

said.

Two weeks ago, however, he said the school decided to spend $25,000 to hire

a contractor to clean every school's ventilation system.

School officials say Deer Run wasn't built to accommodate air conditioning,

and when it was installed years later, ventilation systems were built in

closets, where they are essentially useless for removing moisture from the

rooms.

When students leave for summer break next month, school officials plan to

bring the ductwork out of the closets and into the classrooms, where it will

be more effective.

©New Haven Register 2002