Mold sends Algiers students packing ; Spore count high in 2 Harte classrooms 

© 2007 The Times Picayune

A mold infestation at Alice Harte Elementary School in Algiers has set off a round of classroom reshuffling, forcing school officials to condemn two classrooms and relocate seventh- and eighth- graders to a church across the street.

Results of an indoor air quality survey, performed last week by Leaaf Environmental , LLC, revealed higher-than-normal mold spore counts in two of the eight classrooms where mold had been spotted by teachers around the beginning of the school year.

Upon hearing complaints, school officials removed students from the mold-infested rooms by doubling them up in second through fifth grades.

But starting today, 135 students in seventh and eighth grade will move to Aurora United Methodist Church on Eton Street to ease the classroom crunch.

"We're very happy about that," said David Grubb, director of communications for the Algiers Charter Schools Association. "We'll have space for those kids in actual classrooms" at the church.

Grubb said the school has fielded a handful of health complaints from parents and teachers, although no illness has been definitively linked to the mold.

Individuals with allergies, asthma or other pulmonary problems are more susceptible to infections or illnesses resulting from mold, according to the Leaaf report.

Grubb did not know how long classes would continue at Aurora United Methodist; the school's lease with the church runs through October.

The answer hinges on how quickly the Recovery School District can provide a pair of promised portable buildings for Harte to replace two condemned modular buildings, Grubb said.

School officials are also awaiting remediation services for the six classrooms that contained mold but were deemed safe to inhabit, according to the air quality survey.

Remediation, which involves wiping away mold and sanitizing surfaces where it grew, is expected to take place this weekend, Grubb said. Children are still occupying those classrooms, he said.

The Algiers Charter School Association leases the facility from the Orleans Parish School Board, which is subsidizing all work done at Harte.

While steps are being taken to rid classrooms of mold, officials said the issue is an offshoot of larger structural issues that demand immediate attention.

Mold proliferated as a result of moisture that infiltrated the structure through a faulty roof, officials said.

Plans for a new, pitched roof are under way, and the project should take up to 3 1/2 months to complete, officials said.

The new roof, which consists of light-weight metal trusses, will be built atop the facility's flat roof, enabling classes to continue uninterrupted.

For ACSA, it is the second major facilities issue the charter schools district has had to contend with this school year. Last week, a half-ton air-conditioning duct fell from the cafeteria ceiling at Harriet Tubman Elementary School, crushing a row of tables and forcing the cafeteria to close for a week. The incident occurred after school, and no children were injured.

Harte's PTO President Pinkey Ferdinand said she is relieved officials from the Orleans Parish public schools have stepped in for the remediation process, and she is awaiting additional facility improvements.

Parents were disappointed to find the school in such poor shape only weeks after school started, she said.

"We've received answers," Ferdinand said. "But now we need to see it carried through."

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Jenny Hurwitz can be reached at (985) 645-2848 or jhurwitz@timespicayune.com