THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411060184
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
Five years after Salem High School opened and complaints began circulating that stale air was causing physical ailments, parents and students at Salem are fed up.
Angry parents stressed concerns at a recent meeting on the issue. Students have taken to signing petitions, wearing surgical masks to class or planning walk-outs to protest what they believe is administrative foot-dragging on solving air-quality problems at Salem and seven other Beach schools.
``I want the schools fixed,'' said Bonnie Henry, 46, who has one son at Salem now and a daughter who will go there next year.
``If it takes a year, so be it. Close the school and move the kids. Virginia Beach never had any problems using portables before. Put these kids in portables and fix the problem.''
Paul Garrison, the school system's director of environmental services, said he and other school officials are working as fast as possible to remedy the situation.
``I don't have an answer for how to improve the schedule,'' Garrison said. ``It's time to do it right, and unfortunately the time schedule is not what we want.''
Salem is one of eight Beach schools suffering from ``sick building'' syndrome, a condition produced by faulty heating coupled with ventilation and air conditioning units that don't circulate air properly, allowing a buildup of moisture, mold and mildew. The problems have occurred in newer buildings designed for energy efficiency with minimal exposure to outside air.
The mold and mildew invading the schools have been blamed for some people's aggravated allergies and respiratory difficulties.
School officials responded to the complaints in December 1992 by initiating a study led by a consultant from Virginia Tech. The consultant's contract was renewed last month.
Birdneck, Ocean Lakes, Red Mill, Glenwood, Strawbridge and Rosemont elementaries, Salem Middle and Salem High were identified as the schools with air quality problems.
Of the eight, Birdneck, Glenwood, Salem Middle and Salem High were considered the worst cases and were given the highest priority for fixes.
In the past six months, officials have emerged from the study mode and taken concrete steps to fix the problems permanently. There still are no estimates on how much the procedures will cost or exactly how long they will take. This year, they have about $3 million to spend.
Two engineering firms, Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern Inc. of Virginia Beach and Mathew J. Thompson III, Consulting Engineers Inc. of Newport News, have begun work designing new air systems for Birdneck and Glenwood elementaries. Garrison said he plans to begin construction as soon as design work is completed, if money is available.
The firms are tentatively scheduled to begin design work on Salem Middle and Salem High in April. Garrison said he had no estimate of when construction would begin.
Nor could he estimate when design work would begin on the other four schools.
The plan is to install new air systems in small sections of the eight schools on a staggered schedule, Garrison said. If the systems work, they'll be expanded.
The staggered schedule is not popular, but it's necessary considering the complexity of the air problems at the schools, Garrison said. New air systems must be tailored to fit the schools' needs. There may be no cookie-cutter solution.
A committee of administrators, School Board members and representatives from the eight schools has reviewed the plans, Garrison said.
Still, school officials acknowledge that the slow, methodical approach has frustrated some parents and teachers.
``It's just not a simple matter,'' Garrison said. ``And there's no way to do it that's going to make the parents happy.''
``We're looking for correct measures rather than quick fixes,'' said John S. Kalocay, the school system's chief operations officer.
``We're very cognizant of parents' concerns, and we're going to do the very best we can.''
In the meantime, dehumidifiers and air cleaners have been placed in the schools. Cleaning crews spend extra time clearing mold and mildew and installing new air filters.
Superintendent Sidney L. Faucette has granted parents from the eight schools permission to transfer their children to any Beach school, even though, he said, the air in the schools has been tested by experts and deemed safe for occupants.
Those measures, however, don't comfort Salem High parents and students. Many say they are wary of the unknown - unclear timetables for when school officials will fix the problems, uncertainty over price and a big question mark about hidden health risks for children.
``I think it's bad for everybody,'' said Theresa Holliday, 16, a junior at Salem. ``I think they should fix it.''
Theresa's mother, 43-year-old Annie Holliday, said she asked Theresa and another daughter, also at Salem High, to transfer to another school to avoid health problems. Theresa did not want to go.
Holliday said she may force her daughters to go switch schools if, by Christmas, school officials have not begun work to fix Salem's air problems.
``I don't want to do that, because they belong to Salem,'' she said. ``It's their school. It's our school.''
But, Holliday said, ``You just don't know what's going to happen in the future. Are they going to get emphysema, some kind of lung disease, down the road?''
Victor Lepere, 46, who has three daughters at Salem, believes the matter will come down to politics and whether the School Board is able to win enough money from the City Council to pay for solutions.
``I know you can't fix all these things overnight, but four years seems to be just a ridiculously long period of time to remedy the problems,'' he said. ``The school took about half that time to build.
``I just think there's not enough of a sense of urgency.'' by CNB