If Prescott Unified School District fixed the problem in 2000 - why is it back?

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http://www.communitypapers.com/dailycourier/myarticles.asp?H=1 & S=400 & P=32454

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November 15, 2000

PHS gets $475K for mold abatement, roof

By LOUISE KONIARSKI

The Daily Courier

PRESCOTT - The state School Facilities Board has approved $475,000 from its

critical deficiency corrections fund to repair and re-roof the Vocational

Building at Prescott High School.

Prescott Unified School District Super-intendent Short told Governing

Board members meeting Tuesday night that the money will pay for " remediation

and repair " of the building.

The district must get competitive bids on the work, which will cover

laboratory testing, mold remediation, metal roof replacement, insulation,

evaporative cooler relocation from roof to building sides and improvement of

current air handlers. Short hopes to have all students back in the renovated

building in February or March.

In October, the school found stachybotrys - a fungus that in highly

concentrated form can cause respiratory ailments - in the building's walls

and ceilings. As a precaution, Principal Tim closed off two-thirds of

the building and relocated several classes elsewhere on campus while

abatement occurred. Since then, a hazard control company has removed and

replaced affected material, and air tests have come back clean. Replacing

the leaky metal roof and skylights will halt the wet conditions that feed

the fungus, said.

There have been no reports of respiratory ailments from teachers or students

who used the Vocational Building. Prescott district officials praised the

state board and its employees for their quick response to the emergency.

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November 9, 2000

Fungus closes another PHS class

By LOUISE KONIARSKI

The Daily Courier

PRESCOTT - As a precaution, Prescott High School Principal Tim closed

off another classroom Monday because of stachybotrys and ordered abatement,

which should take from one to three weeks.

In October, the school found the same fungus in the Vocational Building, the

weight room and in Science Department storage areas. As a precaution,

at that time closed affected spaces and temporarily relocated students

elsewhere on campus.

" All of those areas, except one, have been cleaned and have received clear

air verification and are no longer considered 'regulated areas', "

said Tuesday.

One stubborn spot, though, is inside sheetrock on the wall behind a cabinet

in Room 309, where Ron Hanson teaches science classes. Southwest Hazard

Control will remove and replace the contaminated wallboard. Western

Technologies will provide the environmental consultation and monitoring.

Meanwhile, Hanson's classes have moved to Rooms 506, 303 and 513 during

usual vacant periods. They will resume in Room 309 after tests prove that

the air is clean.

Stachybotrys thrives on water-damaged cellulose in the sheetrock, wallpaper

and insulation backing materials of buildings. There have been no reports of

respiratory ailments from teachers or students using affected areas at the

school, said.

Elsewhere around the country, inhaling airborne stachybotrys in highly

concentrated amounts has led to illness or even death in babies or the

elderly. That particular fungus also closed Yuma High School and buildings

at various other Arizona schools while cleanups were under way.

For more information, call at 445-2322.

October 12, 2000

Fungus closes part of PHS vocational building

By LOUISE KONIARSKI

The Daily Courier

PRESCOTT - Just to be on the safe side, Prescott High School Principal Tim

has closed off two-thirds of the Vocational Building on campus

because of a fungus, stachybotrys, in walls and ceilings.

" We do not believe a health hazard exists, " he said Wednesday. " We are

taking these steps only as a prudent precaution. " immediately placed

about 30,000 square feet of the building in containment, leaving the

automotive lab and tool room open as usual. His action affects a total of

125 students, four teachers and a speech therapist.

The school relocated their classes elsewhere on campus. The two Electronics

classes went to the Aries Lab, Fire Science to Room 303, Nursing to Rooms

206 and 214, and Speech Therapy to the library.

changed locks on the 26-year-old Vocational Building to secure the

containment area. Southwest Hazard Control was to begin cleaning and

removing contaminated debris today and finish the work by Oct. 26.

New construction should begin the next day and conclude by Oct. 31. Plans

are to reoccupy the entire building by Nov. 1.

A new roof or major repairs to the metal corrugated roof and leaky skylights

will also be necessary to halt the wet conditions that feed the fungus.

" The cost of the project is about $50,000 to remove the contamination, " said

. " We do not know what the new construction cost will be or the cost

of the roof repairs or replacement at this time. "

The recent routine tests that located stachybotrys also found nigrospora

under mats in the weight room. There is no immediate health risk there,

said. Southwest Hazard Control will clean that area with disinfectant

over the fall break, Oct. 27 through 31. Completion of the new roof should

prevent this problem from recurring, noted.

Kathleen O. Frost, Western Technologies Inc. consultant, said stachybotrys

" is all around us outside, but it shouldn't be indoors " in amounts found at

numerous spots in the Vocational Building. That particular fungus also

closed Yuma High School and buildings at various other Arizona schools while

cleanups were under way, she said.

None of the teachers or students using the Vocational Building have reported

any respiratory ailments, Frost said. Elsewhere, inhaling airborne

stachybotrys in highly concentrated amounts has led to illness or even death

in babies or the elderly, she noted.

The fungus thrives on water-damaged cellulose in buildings that have such

materials as sheet rock, wallpaper and insulation backing materials.

notified the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and

OSHA (The Occupational Health and Safety Administration) and received

clearances for the abatement, said. Western Technologies will monitor

the work and complete post-abatement clean air sampling. Then it will report

findings to the school, ADEQ and OSHA before the school reoccupies the

sealed-off area.

plans to ask the Arizona State Facilities Board for money to cover

the cleanup.

" If that's not successful, we have contacted the Risk Retention Trust

(insurance), and if absolutely necessary, we could use sale-of-property

funds, if the Governing Board approves, " he said.

For further information, call at 445-2322.