03/31/08 - "What irks me about the formaldehyde is it could be a good five years before my kids get diagnosed,"

Why Doesn't School Board Member Leslie Moriarty Want The Hamilton Avenue School Parents To Independently Test The Contaminated Modular Classrooms?

Quote:

"We believe the protocol that has been used for the environmental testing is really high quality and we welcome any specialist you would like to bring to sit down with the specialist (who has) been in the building and has done the test to review the protocol and the methods involved and I think you would be satisfied," Board of Education member Leslie Moriarty told parents at a meeting Thursday.

HEADLINE:

Kids' health worries parents (Click Here For The Full Story)

By Hoa Nguyen
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

Gina DeMartis' son had constant headaches and occasional nose bleeds. Mina Bibeault's daughter complained of frequent headaches and burning eyes, while her son often had a runny nose. Donna Ortoli's son also suffered from similar health ailments.

These three Hamilton Avenue School parents are among those worried that their children's health symptoms are linked to conditions at the modular school building. Officials shut down the school last month after officials found a significant mold infestation in the roof eaves and crawl space.

"My child has a cold now, is it related?" DeMartis asked. "Maybe the mold spores are on the books they got from the classroom? You don't know what to believe anymore."

With Hamilton Avenue School students dispersed to different schools across the town, parents are calling on the Board of Education to allow their own experts into the moldy modular buildings to perform their own tests and investigation....

"If the Board of Ed has nothing to hide, they should allow us in," Mina Bibeault said. "Board of Ed, if you feel 120-percent confident in your results, you should roll out the red carpet."

...Another indoor air quality specialist also not connected to the Hamilton Avenue School testing said there are no hard and fast rules.

"It's very hard to comment because there's no one size fits all answer," said Paula Schenck, assistant director of the Farmington-based Center for Indoor Environments and Health at the University of Connecticut. "You have to look at the individual situation."

She said while mold is easily cleaned from some furniture, particularly metal, it is more difficult to rid from paper and other organic materials. Schenck said that while some small amount of mold can be naturally occuring indoors, it should be kept to an absolutely minimum.

"It's complicated because what you don't want is mold growing on materials inside," Schenck said. "Mold is a very normal part of our ecology but you don't want it growing inside. It's not a healthy environment inside."

In addition to mold, parents also fear the presence of formaldehyde in the modulars. Schwartz said the chemical is present in ultra-low concentrations, but parents also dispute that finding and want their own tests. Formaldehyde causes cancer in lab animals and may cause cancer in humans, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"What irks me about the formaldehyde is it could be a good five years before my kids get diagnosed," Bibeault said.

PLEASE READ:

03/05/08 - The Unionized (Teamstewrs) School District Custodial Staff Are Suggesting That There Might Be A School District Coverup At Ham Ave School

03/12/08 - Why Was It Ok To Remove Dumpsters Of Contaminated Plywood, But Not OK To Remove School Desks And Chairs?

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03/13/08 - Former PTA president Laura DiBella said parents had reported that their children having frequent headaches, nausea, nosebleeds, and ......

Greenwich Superintendent of Schools Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg greets Hamilton Avenue student Melanie Gonzales as she gets off the bus at Glenville School on Monday morning.

Settling in

Hamilton Avenue kids finish out year in new schools

... Parent Gina DeMartis was one of those reporting problems on Monday. She said there was no teacher on the bus taking her first grader to Parkway, which she said the district promised to supply, and the bus arrived earlier than expected. She called the situation “pretty confusing” and said while she understands kinks will arise, she hopes it will get better.

“This is difficult for my children because this is the first time they’re going to different schools,” Ms. DeMartis said. “The older one always looked out for his brother. But little kids are very resilient. They’re probably dealing with this better than the parents are.”

Ms. Eves said on Wednesday that there had been a para-professional on the bus in question and praised all the district staff for volunteering to help during the transitions.

On Tuesday, Ms, DeMartis told the Post that the teacher was on the bus for the second day, but that it arrived early again and some students missed it. She also said the bus stop, which is in front of the Gateway School at the intersection of Weaver and Chapel streets, was unsafe and that parents should have had more input into where the stops are.

Ms. DeMartis said many parents still worry about what their children were exposed to in the modulars. She rejected the idea that there is no indication of an airborne hazard. One of her children had suffered from headaches and fatigue.

“I don’t know how Betty Sternberg can say that,” Ms. DeMartis said.

Former Hamilton Avenue School PTA president Laura DiBella said parents had come to her about their children having frequent headaches, nausea, nosebleeds, and ear infections during the last weeks in the modulars....

....A March 10 status report from the district said tests had shown “a higher level of non-toxic mold spores” than the initial tests found. The district says in the report that while the results don’t reach a level that is considered hazardous to one’s health, more tests will have to be done before any of the books, supplies or desks left behind may be brought to the other schools....

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