Schools race clock in fight against mold

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Schools race clock in fight against mold

By Bill Hirschman

Education Writer

Posted August 16 2002

The latest school spotlighted as a spawning ground for hazardous mold will

likely be made safe enough for children by the opening of classes Aug. 26,

officials told angry parents Thursday.

But clean-up work at Riverside Elementary in Coral Springs may continue into

next month in the media center, administration center and possibly the

cafeteria -- areas that will be off limits to students.

" When the children are allowed to occupy the school, parents should not be

concerned. It will be an environment that is safe and healthful for

occupancy, " assured Rene Salazar, a certified industrial hygienist who has

inspected Broward County schools over the past few years.

Workers will race through the weekend patching leaking roofs, replacing

infected drywall and cleaning contaminated equipment before staffers report

this Monday, said Principal Larry Katz.

" We ought to have it licked in a day or two, but it isn't going to be

pretty " because the work will continue, Superintendent Till said.

As with scores of Broward schools, such as Virginia Shuman Young Elementary

in Fort Lauderdale, mold and mildew have flourished and persisted at

Riverside. In recent weeks, they were found in at least four new schools

scheduled to open this summer.

A $44 million program has been under way since 1998 to seal leaky roofs and

then replace mold-ridden walls and ceiling tiles at 155 schools.

Most of the Riverside parents were dissatisfied with the answers Thursday at

a closed-door no-media-allowed briefing by school officials.

Jo-Ann Vitelli said she will not allow 6-year-old Dominick to attend. " If

someone doesn't let me transfer him, he isn't going to school. ... It's a

shame when our government puts our children at risk. "

Many parents were especially furious that Salazar did not promise to conduct

tests of the actual air quality before clearing the school.

Salazar explained to reporters that such tests can give contradictory,

" highly unreliable results " and that, in most cases, mold that endangers

health can be visually detected.

" The general misconception is that testing [air quality] is the answer. You

can reach the same conclusions without testing and save time and money, "

Salazar said.

A visual inspection is exactly what he has done in previous visits to the

school and what he did Thursday. He has no plans to test the air quality

unless an unusual circumstance arises.

" I could see the problems; it was obvious, " Salazar said.

Similar answers infuriated more than 30 parents at the briefing.

" As any person, whether you're a scientist or not, knows, you can't see

mold, " said Manzo of Coral Springs. She wants the walls pulled off

every classroom and the air tested in every room.

Her son, Pianelli, 8, said, " The [parents] that came had better

answers than the scientists. "

is an incoming third-grader whose sensitivity to mold and allergies

led to sore throats and stomachaches despite weekly allergy shots.

Mold has been the district's recurring headache since shoddy construction

allowed rain to infiltrate roofs and walls during the building boom of the

late 1980s through the mid-1990s.

One of the ironies to several observers is that Riverside is getting

notoriety now that the repair work is almost complete. The roofs at

Riverside and four identical schools have leaked since they opened in 1986,

in part because of aesthetically pleasing but functionally dispensable

cupolas atop each school.

The joints between the 36 cupolas and the roof collect water, which slowly

seeps into the classrooms at schools such as Riverside, Country Isles

Elementary in Weston, Coral Park in Coral Springs, Sandpiper in Sunrise and

Silver Ridge in Davie.

" We went for pretty ... but she didn't age well, " Till said.

Students, parents and staff have complained of aggravated respiratory

problems for many years, said School Board member Kraft, whose

daughter had health problems at the school for six years.

Money for repairs only became available in the 1999-2000 budget and work did

not begin on the roof until last year. The work did not switch into high

gear until this summer, according to Kraft.

Based on what she heard Thursday, Kraft said of her daughter, " I would send

her back. She was here for six years. She had headaches and health problems.

But I'm confident that they are making steps to remediate it. "

Education Writer Toni Marshall contributed to this report.

Bill Hirschman can be reached at bhirschman@... or

954-356-4513.