School fails mold test

Air quality investigators are at Gulf Elementary School in Cape Coral this week, hoping to discover whether there is mold in the building and if so, whether it's making people sick.

The extent of illness at the school is unclear - the principal said the school has one of the district's highest attendance rates - but one mother is so worried and frustrated by the district's handling of her complaints that she decided to go public.

Vivian Theriault, the mother of a fourth-grader, said her daughter developed serious respiratory problems last year and was diagnosed with mold allergies last summer. During first and second grade, the child's classes were in Gulf's primary learning center, a new, separate building. She was not ill then.

"She just had a chronic cough that wouldn't go away," Theriault said of her child's third-grade year.

Theriault isn't the first person to voice concerns over air quality in Lee schools. Five years ago, two groups of parents and teachers sued the district over respiratory illnesses associated with mold. The suit followed a rash of complaints in the early 2000s and the discovery of mold in more than a dozen schools. Gulf Elementary shares the same design as some of the previously troubled schools.

The district in 2003 set up an indoor air quality department and established maintenance protocols.

Gulf's testing was done by American Management Resources Corp., the district's indoor air consultant. Results should be available within two weeks.

Principal Martin Mesch said he supports the idea of more testing. But he's also not convinced there's a problem.

"For me, if I had a sick building, I'd see it in the attendance rate," he said.

He said it may be a case of one or two people having intense reactions to their environments.

What frustrates Theriault is the delay in reporting her concerns in August and six-month gap before the AMRC testing.

In the interim, district and AMRC inspectors visually checked the building for mold growth and found some on the bottom of some desks. The areas were cleaned and re-inspected, according to district spokesman Joe Donzelli. It's standard procedure to do the visual inspection and cleaning before ordering more extensive testing.

Mesch said the district took appropriate action.
"We are on top of things," he said.

Theriault is anxious for the formal test to answer her questions.
Her daughter is doing better this year, thanks to medications.

"But my concern now is is she still being exposed?" Theriault said.
Cindy Graves, who also has a child in fourth grade at Gulf, noticed her daughter started getting more runny noses since she moved from the new primary learning center to the existing elementary school last year.

"I just would like some proper air quality testing done to know exactly what's going on," she said.

Richard Davis, the husband of a Gulf teacher and father of a student, said he expects a thorough examination will turn up mold on a ceiling tile in his wife's room previously had some growth on it.

"I can't imagine there is no mold. Most likely it is between ceiling tiles and roof, and the company has indicated that they will look at that," Davis said.

He said the issue is getting the district to prioritize the repair list for both Gulf Elementary and Gulf Middle School, which he said also has maintenance issues. Davis attended a School Advisory Committee meeting last week when the issue was discussed and said he believes the administration acted appropriately.

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