School moved after mould discovery

Two rural Taranaki schools normally 21 kilometres apart have temporarily become classroom neighbours after black mould was found at one of them.

The 18 pupils from Mokau School moved down the road to a spare classroom at Ahititi School in North Taranaki at the start of term four after an air quality test picked up the mould spores.

Black mould, or Stachybotrys chartarum, can grow on water-damaged building materials and produce toxic spores. Mould in general can inflame the airways, causing nasal congestion, wheezing, chest tightness, coughing and throat irritation and lead to conditions like asthma and skin irritation.

Board of trustees chair Mark Smythe said while the reading was not significantly high, the Ministry of Education protocol was to move elsewhere.

‘‘Mokau School is still operating but it’s just operating out of the spare classroom at Ahititi School,’’ he said.

Smythe said while the reading was taken prior to the school holidays they only received the results the Thursday of the second week. ‘‘It took four weeks for the cultures to grow.’’

There was a bit of a panic when they couldn’t go back for the start of term but Ahititi School had been great, he said.

The school is getting ozone treatments and students will move back in in the new year. Smythe said they could probably have gone back sooner but it wasn’t worth the upheaval.

He said the kids had settled in well and thought it was a bit of an adventure.

‘‘Both schools are sort of small numbers so it’s just more kids to play with at lunch time.’’

Ministry of Education deputy secretary of sector enablement and support Katrina Casey said the Ministry took health and safety in schools very seriously.

‘‘As an immediate precaution to avoid any exposure to staff and students we isolated the affected area and arranged for the school to be relocated.

‘‘From time to time buildings do have issues, and we work with schools to decide whether they should be repaired or replaced.

‘‘We have commissioned a deep clean of the affected areas. We will continue to support the board as decisions around the future of the buildings are made following further air quality testing.’’