THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508260105
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Back to School
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 157 lines
Six years after the first complaints about poor air quality in Salem High, then brand new, the school system finally is ready to test methods that eventually may clear the air at Salem and the Beach's seven other sick schools.
Students, parents and staff members say it's about time.
In a January letter to staff and parents about Birdneck, Glenwood, Red Mill, Rosemont and Strawbridge elementaries; Salem Middle School; and Ocean Lakes and Salem high schools, the division's administration acknowledged the schools suffered from ``sick building syndrome.'' The oldest of the buildings is 14 years old, but most have been built since 1988.
Officials stopped short, however, of saying that physical symptoms such as headaches, shortness of breath, sinus congestion and skin irritations could be directly linked to something within the buildings.
But Nancy Ferguson is certain they are. She is a member of the Beach school system's Indoor Air Quality Committee.
Ferguson sent her oldest son, Ian, to live with relatives in Michigan last school year because she was convinced poor air quality at Salem High was aggravating Ian's asthma. She also took a leave of absence from work so she could drive her younger son, Glen, to Landstown Middle every day, away from the stale air at Salem Middle that left him listless and gave him headaches.
This year, though, Ferguson can't afford to stay off work or to pay the tuition for the private school Ian attended up north.
The boys refuse to attend other city schools, away from their friends. So Ferguson is preparing for a tough year battling illnesses. She expects them to miss a lot of classes.
``The kids want to go to school with their friends, and I can't blame them for that,'' she said. ``We have to live in the neighborhood, too, and we can't just set our kids apart, which is what they're asking us to do, and it should not be necessary.''
Ferguson is among those who say they are frustrated with Beach school officials for not dealing with the problem openly and quickly from the beginning - a problem she says has improved since John Kalocay came in as the district's chief operations officer a year ago.
Still, Ferguson is resigned to the prospect that the problems at Salem High won't be fixed by the time Ian graduates in two years.
``I hope it'll be fixed by the time my youngest one gets there.''
The district has sued the six architectural firms that designed the schools and the firms, in turn, have sued the mechanical engineers who designed the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems identified by outside consultants as contributing to the problems. But administrators say they want the problems corrected more quickly than they're likely to be fixed in court.
``We can't wait for the outcome of the lawsuits where anyone's health is concerned,'' said Paul Garrison, director of the district's office of environmental services.
As students return to school in September, all the problem buildings have dehumidifiers and air cleaners in place and an additional custodian to make sure they are working properly. Operable windows were added at Salem High last spring, and they'll be added this fall at Birdneck and Glenwood elementaries and at Salem Middle.
School officials acknowledge, however, that such measures are only temporary.
The long-term solutions that parents, students and staff members have been anxiously awaiting may be found in a pilot study at Birdneck and Glenwood this year.
Two consulting firms have studied the schools, measured carbon dioxide, mold and mildew in the air, and are designing a system that should correct problems related to the amount of moisture being brought into the classrooms by the current ventilation systems.
Carole Widmer, a business teacher and coordinator in the Office of Cooperative Education at Salem High School, knows how damp some rooms have become. She has seen white boards so wet that she couldn't write on them. Mildew had to be cleaned off the furniture at the beginning of each year. The moisture crept into and damaged the business department's electronic equipment.
And Widmer began to realize that people were getting sick.
``Everybody gets headaches,'' she said. ``You just don't feel good.''
After long-suppressed allergy problems flared and she developed asthma and other bronchial problems, Widmer gave up the demanding job of business department head at the school to cut back on the extra hours she spent there.
After several years of refusing to acknowledge the problem, the district is now working on a solution - an improvement, Widmer says.
``There's been progress made,'' she said. But ``there is a long way to go.''
All eight of the sick schools have a heating and air-conditioning system that cools air efficiently but doesn't control humidity. Humidity is closely linked to the growth of mold and mildew, which are tied to upper respiratory illnesses and other symptoms.
Among other things, the trial ventilation system will allow direct control of humidity in a classroom and adjustments to outside air flow. And, if it proves to be the solution, the recommended system is simple and easier to maintain than the current model, Garrison said.
Designs for the new system, which will be tested in a pod of eight classrooms each at Birdneck and Glenwood, may be ready by October. If it's effective, the district then will take bids for construction of the systems, although getting them built will depend on when the district can pay for them, Garrison said.
So far, the district has $2 million in capital improvement money to pay for the pilot projects, but that won't cover the cost of expanding the system throughout the schools.
``We've tried to limit the possibility of failure . . . by going with the pilot study,'' Garrison said. After the system is in place, the situation will be monitored for improved air quality and fewer complaints. If it works, it will be expanded to the rest of the school.
The other six schools have not been forgotten. Studies are now under way in a representative clump of classrooms at each.
Those investigations may or may not turn up the same problems and remedies as those at Birdneck and Glenwood.
Whatever is discovered, the district will test possible solutions first, Garrison said. That approach may seem slow, but it is cautious and reflects a commitment to getting it right, he said. MEMO: Staff writer Elizabeth Thiel contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: ABOUT THE COLOR DRAWING ON THE COVER
Eric Leach, 13, likes to go to the beach and his idea for today's
Beacon cover drawing ``just came into my head,'' said the Salem
Middle School eighth-grader. Eric, who attends the Old Donation
Center for the Gifted and Talented for art, is no novice to when it
comes to winning awards for his drawings. He has won his school PTA
Reflections art contest two times. He also helps create T-shirt
designs for a T-shirt designer in Nags Head, N.C. The son of Brian
and Robin Leach of Bellamy Plantation, Eric is hoping for a career
in art.
Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Architect Kevin A. Pontiff checks a pool of standing water with
algae growth that could affect air quality inside Red Mill
Elementary.
A Virginia Air Balance employee measures the air flow of a window
unit in a school.
Pontiff, an architect with Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern, Inc.,
checks the seams of a school roof for signs of leaks and for leaks
that have been sealed.
by CNB