It took the Scranton School District six months to remove moldy ceiling tiles from William Prescott Elementary School, despite a report detailing the problem that was circulated by at least one district employee five months ago.
Top officials did not know about the report, Superintendent William King said Monday. The day after the tiles were replaced, however, Mr. King told The Times-Tribune that the work had been on the maintenance staff's to-do list since the spring, but workers just got to the job after a busy summer.
He now says he didn't know about the problem until earlier this month.
"I never knew about it until Sept. 11," Mr. King said Monday. "That's the day I acted on it."
The district is now waiting for new air quality reports to determine if students will be permitted to return to the school's now-closed cafeteria.
The cafeteria has been closed since maintenance crews discovered mold on a wall on Sept. 13. The mold was discovered two days after Mr. King said he first learned of the March air quality report that recommended the removal of the tiles - including 11 water-damaged tiles, six with suspected microbial growth, in the cafeteria.
On the night of Sept. 11, maintenance crews replaced 180 ceiling tiles, Mr. King said Monday.
Parental concerns
The length of time it took the district act on the report, and a lack of information from the district, has many parents concerned.
Some of Prescott's students are from the now-closed Audubon Elementary School, which the district permanently shuttered this year because of mold and the high cost to reopen the building.
At least one parent has had a copy of the report since April - five months before Mr. King said he was made aware of it.
Kelly Lona's daughter attended Audubon and then was moved to Prescott after the board voted in May to permanently close Audubon. In April, Ms. Lona received the report from Paula Giordano, the secretary in the buildings and grounds department, according to the email provided to The Times-Tribune. Ms. Lona received the report after inquiring about the future school her daughter was to attend.
Ms. Lona said she figured the issues found in the March report would have been addressed before her daughter started at the school. She learned the problem has not been eradicated when her daughter complained of being sick the day after the tiles were removed. Many surfaces were left dusty after maintenance workers had to trim new tiles.
Ms. Lona applied for a boundary exception, and her daughter is now at Whittier Elementary.
"If I had a report that (Prescott) was a perfectly clean school, I would have had no problem sending her there," she said. "I find it hard to believe Mr. King didn't know about this."
Report details
In the March 2 report by Guzek Associates, a Clarks Summit environmental engineering firm, the firm noted ceiling tiles and other material that exhibited "physical evidence of water-damaged materials." Water leaks had caused problems at the school before its roof was replaced two years ago.
While there were no major issues with air quality, the firm recommended that all water-damaged building material be removed and replaced with new material.
"Water-damaged material should be removed in a containment or in a manner that will not release mold spores throughout the building," the report stated.
The report also states that air testing "was done at the request of the Scranton School District." The report was addressed to Bill McDonough, who retired at the end of December but stayed on briefly as Jeff Brazil took over as director of facilities and grounds.
Mr. King said he asked Mr. Brazil earlier this month when the last time the air quality at Prescott was tested. Mr. Brazil later produced the report. Mr. King said he did not know how Mr. Brazil got the report. The Times-Tribune was not able to verify the cost of the report on Monday.
Efforts to reach Mr. Brazil, Mr. McDonough or Ms. Giordano, were unsuccessful. Prescott principal Albert O'Donnell, referred all comments to Mr. King.
Mr. King said he is trying to figure out who knew about the report and when.
"No one seems to know," Mr. King said.
Director Bob Sheridan, chairman of the buildings and grounds committee, said he did not know about the report before Mr. King learned of it.
"Had I seen it, it would have been taken care of," Mr. Sheridan said.
Test results
Air testing was done in the cafeteria on Sunday, and results should be available today, Mr. King said.
Thorough cleaning was done last week, and air quality in parts of the building other than the cafeteria were acceptable. Crews have been working to address a moisture issue that was found in the cafeteria after heavy rainfall last week.
If the air in the cafeteria is not cleared, the district does not know what the next step will be, Mr. King said.
Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com; @hofiushallTT on Twitter