War on mold continues at Kickapoo
Crews tackle black and green growths as start date for school year approaches.
War on mold continues at Kickapoo
Crews tackle black and green growths as start date for
school year approaches.
Aug. 15, 2002
By Kathleen O’Dell
News-Leader
Kickapoo High School students
returning on Wednesday and the rest of this week to pick
up their class schedules are being barred from some first-floor corridors, classrooms
and
lockers while workers clean up mold in ceiling tiles, on surfaces and in the
air. The whole
area is cordoned off by heavy sheets of plastic, so teachers can’t get
into their classrooms,
either.
Principal Doug Bloch said
he expects cleanup, re-testing and restoration work will be
finished before classes resume Aug. 26.
“We’re doing our
best to make sure the school is free of this problem,” Bloch said. “I’d
like
to not have to talk about this next year. For one year I’d like to be mold-free.”
Superintendent Jack Ernst
also sent a letter to Kickapoo parents and staff this week to
explain the work and reassure them that the affected classrooms and halls won’t
be
reopened until a third party verifies they are suitable to occupy.
Eight air quality tests
conducted in the past by environmental engineering firms have noted
mold in some areas of the school, Ernst said in the letter, but he emphasized,
“Each of
these tests has confirmed the school has acceptable air quality.”
The source of their mold
woes: The school’s overloaded, 31-year-old air conditioning system,
which promotes mold growth above and on ceiling tiles and pipe insulation.
School officials have battled
mold there since the early ’90s. It turns ceiling tiles black, clings
to pipe insulation and leaves a green film on library books.
Students and staff also
complain that they smell moldy odors and suffer from allergic reactions
— from nosebleeds and sneezing to headaches and itchy, watery eyes —
whenever the
system starts up in the spring and fall.
The variety of molds found
at Kickapoo over the years and this summer have been linked to
allergic reactions in people with asthma and sensitivity to molds.
Year after year, when the
mold returns, the district continues to clean it up and tweak the air
conditioning system because it doesn’t have the money to fix it once and
for all, Bloch has
said. The school will replace one major rooftop air conditioning unit before
school resumes,
he said.
The cleanup, which began
about 10 days ago, stems from the latest study showing elevated
levels of several kinds of visible and airborne mold in six first-floor classrooms,
the ceiling tiles,
above the ceiling, on pipes, above the southeast stairs to the auditorium, the
northwest hallways
and other areas.
To accomplish the work,
however, crews had to seal off the first-floor classroom wing involving
18 rooms, hallways and lockers.
Richard Lee, an independent
industrial hygienist with Lee Safety & Environmental Services in
Springfield, said his study in May showed evidence of aspergillus/penicillium
fungal spores
and surface samples of stachybotrys — so-called toxic “black mold”
— in and above some
classrooms.
“Stachybotrys and some
species of penicillium and aspergillus molds are known to cause
allergic response and/or illness in some individuals,” Lee wrote in his
follow-up report.
The district hired Lee and
his staff of six, who have been working for about 10 days, 8 a.m. to
midnight, in protective suits and respirators. The job could take another five
to 10 days, Lee said.
They are removing all ceiling
tiles, some building materials, pipe insulation, and vacuuming,
scrubbing and disinfecting above ceilings in the affected areas plus two classrooms
out from
the “hot spots” to make sure the mold didn’t migrate further,
Lee said.
“I somehow wonder whether
air conditioning is that great a thing, with all the problems it
causes,” Lee said during a break at Kickapoo on Wednesday.
The initial May study cost
the district about $3,000, Lee said, plus $6,000 for additional testing
and “rush” fees, waste hauling and worker supplies. Labor costs about
$2,000 a day — excluding
overtime, and there’s been plenty of that to get the building ready in
time, Lee said.
The district has no budget
for mold removal, so the cost will come out of general maintenance
and repair funds. A series of budget cuts from transportation and athletics
this spring generated
about $1 million this year for projects such as new roofs at three schools with
mold problems
and mold removal at Kickapoo, a school spokeswoman said.
The district still plans
to hire a third party to retest the building after Lee is finished, a standard
practice for mold removal, and will use independent contractors and district
employees to replace
ceiling tiles, pipes and insulation. That could be started as Lee’s crew
finishes each area so
they make their Aug. 26 deadline.
Bloch said he hopes a portion
of the first floor will be reopened by Monday so new and returning
teachers can get into their rooms.
“I was completely impressed
today when I walked through there and saw everything they had
done and everything they are doing,” Bloch said Wednesday.
“They’ve accomplished
a great deal. Whether they accomplish their goal of having us mold-free
or not, time will tell.”