Mold forces schools to delay classes

Some students being relocated

By Christine Wallgren, Globe Correspondent, 8/31/2003

Sizzling temperatures, high humidity, and frequent rain have made closed school buildings fertile territory for a variety of molds this summer. Area school districts are now grappling with the high price of cleanup, which for some won't be accomplished before the opening of school.

Because airborne mold spores are known to cause respiratory problems, particularly for people who suffer from allergies or asthma, superintendents are either delaying school openings or relocating hundreds of students until mold problems can be resolved.

In Pembroke, Hobomock Elementary School students did not return to classes last Wednesday as scheduled. Superintendent Patricia Randall ordered Hobomock closed until Sept. 8, when she expects the cleanup of 23 classrooms contaminated with mold to be complete. Randall said asbestos was also discovered in the floors of 17 classrooms when moldy carpets were ripped out. Removal of the mold and asbestos will cost at least $180,000, she said.

A small patch of mold was found in a group instruction room at Pembroke's Bryantville Elementary School. It won't affect classes, but the room will remain off limits until the mold is removed, Randall said.

Two schools in the Silver Lake school district were also affected. Plympton's five-month old, 250-student elementary school will remain closed indefinitely, according to Assistant Superintendent Maurice Splaine. Officials believe a faulty ventilation system may have allowed mold to grow in the building. Administrators postponed the scheduled opening last Wednesday until this Tuesday, but classrooms are not expected to be ready for use by then. In the meantime, Splaine said, the school's gymnasium and cafeteria could provide temporary classroom space if they are deemed safe to use. Classroom furniture and equipment would be cleaned before being moved into those areas.

In the event the gym and cafeteria are still off limits by Tuesday, Plympton students will be relocated in the Silver Lake region, possibly in the Halifax and Kingston elementary schools.

Silver Lake Regional High School in Kingston opened as planned last Wednesday, but hundreds of students are in temporary quarters while mold in 20 portable classrooms is being removed. Custodians discovered the mold two weeks ago, when summer school ended. "Over 500 kids had to be moved to other parts of the building," said principal Richard Kelley. Silver Lake's Little Theater auditorium is also closed because of mold on the seats. "That room is the hub of our music program," Kelley said. "Music classes have been moved to the gym, so we're just hoping for nice weather." He said the cost of the cleanup is not yet known.

Plymouth Superintendent Steven Hiersche decided last week to delay this Tuesday's scheduled school opening for 850 Plymouth South Middle School students until Sept. 15. The five-year-old building has had chronic water leaks since it opened. Repairs to the exterior walls and unit ventilators were made over the summer and mold was detected when the school department hired an expert to conduct testing related to the leaks. "We knew we had water going into the building so we could have mold," Hiersche said. All 54 classrooms will be checked.

"We will not necessarily be occupying that building on the 15th," Hiersche said. If the school remains closed, he said, classes may be shifted to available spaces in the town's elementary schools. Hiersche said double sessions at the Plymouth Community Intermediate School would also be considered.

Hiersche said officials might seek a waiver of the state's 180-day requirement, but the Department of Education wants school districts to find ways to make up lost time. Kimberly Beck, an education department spokeswoman, suggested scheduling classes on Saturdays or during school vacations. "We certainly don't want students to go to school in an unsafe environment, but we also want students to have the benefit of a full school year," she said.

Mattapoisett school officials delayed the start of kindergarten classes at Old Hammondtown School from this Tuesday until Sept. 9 after finding mold in some classrooms. School officials are attributing the mold growth to faulty air conditioners.

And mold infested several classrooms in Middleborough's Henry B. Burkland School, ruining about $16,000 worth of furniture and computers. School Superintendent Denise Walsh said she has decided to delay the opening of school in all four of the town's elementary schools. Other grade levels will start school on Tuesday, but elementary students will begin Thursday.

Suzanne Condon, assistant commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, said this summer's weather has "created problems that have just not been seen before." Condon said the state has been asked by several school systems for some professional guidance. "There has been a marked increase in the number of phone calls we've had," Condon said. State health inspectors have been sent to check several area school buildings in the last few weeks, she said.

Condon said airborne mold spores can cause eye and respiratory irritation. "It's ear, nose, and throat problems," she said. Children whose immune systems are compromised could suffer more serious problems, she said.

At least one community is hoping its mold problems are history. Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School Superintendent Ronald Gerhart said school officials battled mold at Bridgewater's elementary school for the last few years. Town Meeting in the spring passed a $1.7 million Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion override to clean up the elementary building, replace moldy restrooms, rip out rugs and install tile flooring, and overhaul the school's faulty ventilation and heating system. A state health inspector last week pronounced the mold problem solved, and students returned to classes last Tuesday. Gerhart said he sympathizes with superintendents facing mold problems in their schools. "In my experience, which in this area is considerable, I would much rather deal with asbestos because you can look at it, identify it, and remove it," he said. "Mold and mildew you can remove, but if building conditions aren't right, they will return."