Parents Want Action On School Mold

 Two parents of Monomoy Middle School sixth graders urged officials to address mold problems in classrooms now rather than wait for a siding replacement project that won’t get underway until later this year.

 The Harwich Select Board and school administrators heard from two parents at Monday’s board meeting. Courtney Wittenstein told the board her son has been out of school sick since Thanksgiving, and Steve Swain said his son has had a mystery respiratory illness for three weeks.

“He’s had major respiratory issues,” Wittenstein said. “We’ve been to Children’s Hospital in Boston three times and have two more appointments this month. I made a post on facebook  with the letter I wrote and have heard from countless concerned parents, parents of kids who’ve had undiagnosed, mysterious illnesses and faculty who are in both boats … concerned and some who are sick.”    

Wittenstein said she spoke on behalf of other Monomoy parents in saying she is extremely disappointed in the lack of transparency and communication over this topic. 

“I never saw any communication on this at all. If the school was being tested for mold and came back with ‘severe’ air quality levels, we should have known about this back in August,” said Wittenstein. “There are air quality reports online that are totally buried.  

 The parents received backing from Harwich Select Board member Jeffrey Handler. 

“My intention is to not make you uncomfortable, but safety of kids and staff are of utmost importance,” Handler told MRSD Superintendent Scott Carpenter, and business manager Michael MacMillan during a presentation on the plan.

 The Monomoy Regional School District is planning to seek $6.3 million to replace siding at the middle school at town meetings in Chatham and Harwich this spring. Members of the Harwich Select Board made it clear Monday night that they want health and safety issues addressed for students and staff at any cost. 

According to a feasibility study for the siding replacement by Raymond Design Associates, the building suffers from a failed exterior wall envelope that shows consistent signs of severe deterioration throughout all areas and elevations, which has led to active water infiltration. Severely deteriorated wood trim and expired wood shingle siding are evident.

The report cited major flaws in the 1996 work on the school, including inadequate flashing around the windows. Handler said the report indicated the roof flashing was put in backwards. 

MacMillan said numerous air quality tests have been done over the past couple of years. The facilities maintenance staff has been working to address water intrusion issues to assure air quality can be as good as possible. They spoke to fixing leaks, addressing drainage issues, replacing ceiling tiles, and removal of vegetation around the building.

“We’re doing tons of stuff and we will collect information,” MacMillan said. “Are we going to be doing more tomorrow? Absolutely.”

Concerns were raised about students and staff staying in school during construction, expected to begin this summer and run into the fall start of the school year. Wall construction would disturb mold spores, and airborne spores are a primary health concern.  

“Money aside, I don’t see a provision in the construction scope of work that calls for, if the school is open and the staffing and kids are in there, and everyone becomes violently ill because you are disturbing microtoxins. What do we do then?” Handler said. 

“I don’t see $6.3 million covering this project personally, I don’t feel that I want to put my name on something that this board then has to answer to,” he said. “Why don’t we do a better job with an initial investigation. I don’t recognize the testing that’s been done as testing.”

Swain raised questions about the testing that has taken place at the school. 

“I contacted a ‘test only’ company called Nauset Environment, who has worked extensively with the Nauset school system, and asked them to review the reports,” said Swain. “They pointed out that the bulk of the tests were surface swab tests that detect mold on surfaces only. They do not address mold present in the air.

“Disturbed air testing is the most accurate as mold spores primarily become a health concern when they are inhaled. When people are actively moving around a room they disturb the air which makes the mold on surfaces airborne and able to be inhaled. These tests have not been performed in our building,” 

He urged the district to hire a company that is staffed by scientists and not sales people. 

   Board of Health Chair Sharon Pflegler, who said she was speaking only as a citizen, said she has a microbiological background and has dealt with black mold, which she said is always in the air, but there is a big difference between outside and inside black mold, which gives off toxins. Pflegler said she was involved in the closure of two nursing homes because of black mold.  

 “It’s difficult to get rid of,” she said. “You need to find out if it’s in the walls. If there’s enough kids that are sick you’ve got a real problem there. It’s important to find out if it is black mold,” she said. 

 Members of the select board wanted to know the depth of investigation into the mold condition inside the walls. Carpenter as part of the siding project, the material inside the walls will be investigated. 

Select Board member Peter Piekarski said he could imagine the wallboards could be impacted as well. Carpenter said mold has not been seen on drywall. That will be examined as part of the feasibility study, McMillan said, but officials don’t want that issue incorporated into the sidewall project. 

“We don’t have a clue what’s behind those walls,” said Select Board member Michael MacAskill. “We need to do some short-term emergency testing to make sure our children are safe. If it costs $14 million, it’s worth it if the kids and staff are safe.”

“The price tag is hard to swallow, but we want to do it right,” said Select Board Chair Julie Kavanagh. “It’s imperative  for students, staff, and yourself. We want a healthy building.” 

“There is also a mold report that I got my hands on from last summer,” Wittenstein said. “It wasn’t until I called selectman Jeff Handler that he then shared the most recent report. Not even our town leaders had seen this report until this past Saturday night. Why is that?”

 Carpenter said the school building committee was scheduled to meet on Tuesday and the mold issue will certainly be something on the radar. The regional school committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday and mold will be a topic on that agenda, he said.