Middle of May eyed for Hulse School to reopen

Some parents skeptical pesticide residue will be completely removed

The Ottawa District School Board says it hopes to reopen Charles H. Hulse Public School between May 11 and 19 after having to close the school because pesticide fumes made some children sick.

Some parents, however, still have concerns because the school had attempted to reopen before. When the school reopened on April 13, after being sprayed over the weekend, staff and students began complaining about itchiness, watery eyes and nausea. After being open for a few days, the school was closed.

“Ottawa Public Health has said before that you can go back,” Suzan Gauvreau, a parent whose child was sent home sick, said at a public meeting on Tuesday evening.

Previous efforts to ventilate the school failed to get rid of the fumes.

“Since then, they’ve really ripped everything out — including drywall and cabinets,” said Vera Etches, deputy medical officer at Ottawa Public Health. “In that process they did locate some places where there was still product, behind sinks and under floor tiles, which they’ve actually ripped up and have to reconstruct now.”

Rentokil, which had a contract with the Ottawa Carleton School Board, used two insecticides at the school, Gardex and Konk 400, according to Ottawa Public Health. Both insecticides contain Baygon, the industry name for Propoxur, a pesticide that is still legal for indoor use in Canada, despite being banned for such use in the U.S. since 2007.

Ottawa Public Health said the quantity of pesticide used was not significant in causing a toxic effect and that the procedure for spraying the school followed the usual standards. But some parents said they felt the issue had been downplayed and voiced concerns about possible long-term effects.

“There was a lot of minimizing — there’s only a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit of exposure,” said Gauvreau.

At least four parents have met with the Lawrence Greenspon law firm and are considering legal action. Other parents said they were upset with the lack of communication, felt that they should have been informed about the pesticide

There was a lot of minimizing — there’s only a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit of exposure.

use, and that there should have been more discussion beforehand.

The school has a large immigrant population and language barriers have been an issue in getting information out to some of the families. At the meeting between the school board and parents, translators were present to help overcome some of these issues.

“Making sure that everyone gets the same information at the exact same time is a challenge on a good day,” said school principal Vivian Petrie.

She said that they are looking at ways to improve communication with parents to avoid situations like this in the future.

Meanwhile, students are at Parkwood Hills Public School until further notice. The daycare has been transferred to Alta Vista Public School until the school reopens.