The Battle to Keep Mold on Hold
Hygenix cleaners sealed off the 150 pod Friday for mold remediation. On Oct. 15, Superintendent Thomas Scarice told the BMS teachers and parents that mold was discovered on pipes in the ceiling and ceiling tiles. The pod was closed on Monday and six graders held class in other areas of BMS. This was the third mold incident of the year.
Due to humid summer air and HVAC pipe sweating, keeping mold out of the Westport schools has been an ongoing issue, according to Dr. Adam Rosen.
Dr. Rosen said that because of COVID measures to increase air flow for better ventilation, it overtaxed the system and may have contributed to mold surfacing in some areas of the school.
From Long Lots Elementary School to Coleytown Middle School and now to Bedford Middle School itself, all have faced the challenge of mold.
Recently, the 6th grade red pod was shut down because of mold issues. Pipe insulation got wet, some ceiling tiles became stained, and mold was detected.
On the morning of Monday, October 18, students were sent to the auditorium for homeroom and classes were moved to the 7th-grade red pod, upstairs from their old rooms.
“It was a bit chaotic for us,” said Ms. Anitha Bolar, red pod math teacher, about trying to teach and move around the school. They found out late at night in an email and had to come in quickly and prepare.
The school has to act fast to prevent spread.
“As soon as we see mold, we have been acting on it and are focused on the safety of the students and staff,” said Dr. Rosen on Wednesday, October 27.
Hygenix, a company contracted to detect and remove mold, was called in to clean the pod. They brought in air scrubbers and cleaned all surfaces which allowed the students to return to the pod the following day.
So, you might be asking, what is mold? According to EPA.gov, mold is fungi that is harmful to you because when it grows, unstable organic compounds can enter the air and create substances that can cause allergic reactions or irritants, which can be harmful.
Different people can have different levels of sensitivity to mold.
Mold problems arose in Coleytown Middle School in 2018 and the school was forced to shut down, forcing some of the students to temporarily take refuge at Bedford Middle School and Staples High School.
Mold is an expensive problem to fix. The cost to fix the problem in the middle school ended up being approximately $28.1 million dollars, including the new design and building.
Thankfully, the mold issue is still in an early-stage, and the rooms have been cleaned and free of mold.