New School To Open After Other Demolished
Because Of Mold
www.wnbc.com
August 25, 2003
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- More than two years after mold caused an elementary school to be closed
and later demolished, a new replacement school is set to open for area
students.
Fairfield's Board of Education shut McKinley Elementary School in October
2002, after high levels of mold in the building were believed to make
students and staff sick. Storm water that came through the school's roof
while it was under repair in the summer of 2002 is believed to have caused
the mold problem.
Attempts
were made to renovate the building, but the decision to knock down the
building and start over was made after angry parents confronted the Board
of Education. The school was demolished last summer.
Now, a
new, $23 million McKinley Elementary School will open for students Sept.
5. A ribbon cutting for the school is scheduled for Thursday.
"I think
having a gorgeous, permanent new home certainly is a milestone for the
McKinley community," McKinley Principal Paul Toaso said. "It's just a
beautiful facility."
McKinley's
problems were an extreme example of the problems mold and other irritants
can cause for schools. In Litchfield, a mother is suing the superintendent
of schools and the local school board, claiming that poor air quality,
mold and dampness in school made her daughter sick.
This year,
a group of teachers and parents, led by a former McKinley teacher who was
severely sickened by the mold in the school, pressured the Connecticut
legislature to pass a bill aimed at improving the air quality in school
buildings. The law requires school districts to better maintain heating,
ventilation and air conditioning systems.
The new
law also requires local school boards to conduct environmental assessments
for proposed school construction sites as well as evaluate any renovation
projects for air quality.
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