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Moldy School Gets Scrub Down In Guilford County,
North Carolina
Parents Still Concerned School's Mold Making Students Sick
OAK RIDGE, North Carolina, May 30, 2009--
A Triad school got a thorough scrub-down on Saturday after angry parents
claimed their children were getting sick from mold.
There are just a couple of weeks of school left for Guilford County
students, but parents at Oak Ridge Elementary School might be looking
forward to June 15 even more than their children.
Some parents said it has been a tough year at the school, full of
unanswered questions and health concerns.
A team from Hernandez Carpet Cleaning went to work inside the building on
Saturday, trying to get rid of whatever is making mold grow and making
students and staff sick.
Scott Tippett's son, Cameron, is set to start kindergarten at Oak Ridge
this fall, but if he's not convinced that the school is free of mold and
other environmental pollutants, that won't be happening, he said.
School officials said recent tests show that the problems have been fixed
and that the school's heating and air conditioning system is clean. While
the superintendent said he's "very concerned," he also said that the
Guilford County Health Department doesn't think it's necessary to shut
down Oak Ridge.
May 20, angry parents and faculty members confronted school board leaders
and Guilford County health officials demanding a solution to the mold
problem. That night, school officials released test results that showed
acceptable levels of mold inside the school.
By May 26, several teachers took their classes outside. As many as 17
teachers held a "teach-out," protesting air quality issues at the school.
By May 28, the Guilford County Health Department responded, releasing a
statement saying it was mobilizing resources to analyze and address the
problem and outlining a plan to correct it and to monitor the situation to
make sure the problem does not return.
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