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By Emilia Otte
Board of Education Members questioned the timeline for returning students to John Winthrop Middle School in January and voiced frustration over the delays with hiring mold experts.
Mold was found in the building in September, and all students, teachers, and staff from the middle-school were moved to Valley Regional High School. A report on indoor air quality from EnviroMed Services, Inc. revealed “significant” amounts of mold growth in surfaces, and in 30 percent of air samples.
Since then, the district has been looking for engineering companies to help find the source and asked EnviroMed for a cleaning spec. This document will detail what remediation firms would have to do to get the school building ready for use by students.
Brian White, Superintendent of Region 4 Schools told the board on Monday that John Winthrop could be open for students as soon as January. He warned it would be a “fast” schedule and that a firm with sufficient staff was needed to complete this work quickly.
White stated that the district received 12 bids from engineering and project management firms who were interested in the project. They expected to select a firm by November 6. White said the district was “well underway” in the mold remediation and analysis by the middle of November.
White stated that “early or mid-December is when we will make a decision on how to proceed. Specifically, if we feel confident about a safe return in January.”
Board members were skeptical that students would be able to return within the next three months.
John Stack, a board member of EnviroMed, criticized the company for its delay in receiving cleaning specifications.
“I don’t understand why the spec takes so long,” Stack replied. They’ve had plenty of time for us to hold that right away.
Stack stated that the board could not ask for cost estimates from companies without the cleaning spec. Stack also suggested that the district prepare to have remediation companies tour the building once the cleaning specification is finished.
Other board members felt that the date of Nov. 10 was far too late.
There’s an element of frustration. Sorry about this. Kate Sandmann, board chair said: “I’m sure that you also feel this urgency. We’re facing a serious crisis.” It’s an urgent matter, and I believe that anything that could be done to convey this urgency to the people who are paid to assist us would be greatly appreciated.
Rick Daniels, a board member, said that he did not see how students could return to John Winthrop College in January.
You won’t have the timeline until December, and then you expect to finish it in one month – in just a bit more than a week — so that your kids can return to school in January. This is not going to happen quickly. Daniels told me that October is over.
Board member Alex Silva requested that Shipman and Goodwin provide a legal analysis by the district’s lawyers about the reasons why the district needed to undergo an extensive renovation project in order to get students back inside the building.
Silva stated that it was difficult for the public to understand why they were treating this building like Millstone, in an apocalyptic state. “I tend to agree. As I am not an expert on this, I will defer to their knowledge. As a judge, I don’t think that this conservative approach is necessarily the best.
The board also discussed the possibility of renting portable offices for use by teachers for planning lessons and for other purposes. Bob Grissom, Finance Director at the district said that the rental cost for the portable office space would be $10,000. A generator will set you back $20,000 and there may also be some other costs. The total could range between $45,000 to $50,000. White informed the board that Deep River could approve units in up to 30 working days after receiving the District’s paperwork.
Niki Waz is a Chester Elementary teacher and the president of Region 4 Education Association. She told the Board that she felt that building principals were supporting the teachers and the situation was improving.
The music teachers no longer teach in the hall — Fantastic! The lockers are back for the kids. No more grab-and-go lunches,” Waz said.
Waz said that the teachers also wanted a more precise timeline for remediation, and when they would be able to return to their building.
The morale of teachers is unfortunately still a little low. At this stage, there are so many conflicting interests between the two faculties. Waz stated that “a problem is solved for one faculty and 10 other problems are created for the second.” “I am most worried about the preservation of what I feel to be a very strong staff at this time. I’m concerned about the retention of the staff in this district, and want to assure the people that, yes, there has been an interruption but we are working hard to fix it as quickly as possible.
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