School board member: New air system being considered for Westover
STAMFORD — Temperatures and humidity are rising, but teachers at Westover Magnet Elementary Schools may have to keep their windows closed and not turn on the air conditioning in their classrooms, according to one member of the ad-hoc Westover committee.
The reason, according to Nicola Tarzia, is to prevent further humidity from entering the structure,
which has an extensive history of mold.
Tarzia, who serves on the mayor’s Westover committee and is a member of the Stamford Board of Education, said the idea of moving to a ducted system was discussed at the most recent meeting.
If implemented, the school would not have to rely on pipes to feed into unit ventilators in classrooms in each of the four wings of the building. And it could conceivably fix what is described by Tarzia as an “airflow problem,” as air is staying stagnant in the ceiling of the building.
Tarzia said a system with ductwork would allow for air to better circulate around the building.
But he wondered why that wasn’t the plan all along.
“With the history of this building, they should have incorporated or paid for a ducted return system,” he said.
Westover, located at 412 Stillwater Ave., closed in October of 2018 following air quality tests that detected mold. Students were relocated to an office building on Elmcroft Road owned by Building and Land Technology.
Once repairs were underway, workers found more mold than was originally expected at the school building. In February of 2019, the district announced the school would be closed for the entire 2019-20 school year and reopen in fall 2020.
The school district has spent roughly $24 million on renovations to fix long-term problems at the school, which reopened at the start of this school year.
But problems have continued.
Condensation caused mold to form on ceiling tiles in multiple classrooms a few days before school started on Sept. 8. That mold was removed and the rooms remediated.
Later, mold was discovered in eight classrooms.
Last year, City Engineer Lou Casolo told members of the Stamford school board’s Operations Subcommittee that keeping the building dry has proven difficult.
The four wings at the school include classrooms that utilize unit ventilators, and they have all been problem areas, he said. Over the past two years, the interior of the building was gutted and renovated as part of a project that included new mechanical upgrades as well as new floors and ceiling tiles.
Potential mold growth has been found in the building as recently as April 9.
Meredith Febbraio, project manager with contractor Tighe & Bond, sent a letter that day to school and city officials stating that “suspect mold growth” was found in sheetrock, and about 32 square feet of the material was removed from four classrooms.
Casolo refused to comment, or confirm if the city is looking at installing ductwork at Westover.
“We are currently evaluating options and do not have anything to release at this time,” he said, in a written message.
When asked about teachers having to keep their windows closed and air conditioning off, Casolo did not answer. He simply said the school principal “will be communicating operational issues associated with the windows with her staff.”
He said more information related to the project will be discussed during a meeting of the Operations Committee of the Board of Education on Tuesday.