School closed for week
Students and staff cite concerns about mold
WESTPORT — A rise in absences and parents’ concern for the safety of Coleytown Middle School students amid ongoing mold issues prompted Westport’s superintendent to close the school Tuesday for the rest of the week.
“The number of absent students exceeded 50, which is double the typical rate, and the nurse’s office handled dozens of students who complained of various health complaints today,” Westport Superintendent Colleen Palmer wrote in an email to parents Tuesday afternoon. “Some students and staff have expressed their individual concern about remaining in the school environment, and it was difficult for the nursing staff to determine if the presenting health issues were impacted by the anxiety of those in the school in addition to any other presenting medical symptoms.”
Mold remediation efforts began at the school in August 2016, at which point school officials estimated the work would be complete by the end of the calendar year. Expenditures through fiscal year 2018 were approximately $704,000, and the total cost of remediation efforts is expected to cross the $1 million threshold, according to Westport schools Chief Financial Officer Elio Longo.
Over the summer, a failure of the over-50-year-old school’s air circulation system, coupled with hot and humid weather caused mold to resurface at the school and led to more than half the school needing remediation, which was completed just days before the first day of school on Aug. 28, Palmer said.
In order to limit high levels of moisture that promote mold growth, a rented industrial strength dehumidification system was installed at Coleytown before the start of school. The system, which runs 24/7 and uses $600 worth of diesel gas a day, has contributed to a decrease in relative humidity at the school from 85 percent humidity over the summer to 50 to 60 percent humidity in the three weeks since school started.
On Friday, part of the dehumidification unit outside the eighth-grade wing at Coleytown failed and caused a burning mechanical odor to spread throughout the building, Palmer said. On Monday morning, several staff members reported shortness of breath and dizziness, and the building was evacuated for a half hour at 9:30 a.m. in order for fire department officials to check for potential carbon monoxide contamination, Palmer said.
Fire officials found no carbon monoxide contamination, but nine staff members and one student were evaluated by EMS.
“The symptoms people were reporting were not consistent with mold, so the best information we have right now is that it’s related to the mold, but unfortunately, it’s a mechanical failure that probably brought some fumes into the school,” Palmer said.
Westport Weston Health District Director Mark Cooper gave her the all-clear to keep the school open — but the number of absent students on Tuesday prompted the superintendent to reassess the situation.
While Coleytown was already set to be closed Wednesday for a scheduled school holiday, it will remain closed Thursday and Friday as well, out of “an abundance of caution and to reassure our families and staff that this school continues to be a safe environment,” Palmer told parents in her Tuesday email.
Aparent meeting to discuss mold remediation is scheduled for Thursday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Bedford Middle School auditorium.