Parents and teachers at a Northern Virginia school believe mold in the building could be making students sick.
In August before school started, students arrived at marching band camp at Hayfield Secondary School, located south of Kingstowne, to find water stains on the ceiling, soaked carpets and fabric chairs appearing furry with mold. The band room was cleaned and partly refurbished, and the school declared safe to occupy.
But worried parents say they want to see the test results. Some believe the mold issue is widespread and sickening their children.
“My child’s having a really rough time of it,” said Judy Conti, whose daughter, a senior at Hayfield, has mild asthma.
“Every day last week, she came home exhausted – unnaturally exhausted – and with a headache,” Conti said.
She joined with other parents and teachers to demand the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) administration do more to address their concerns. The group will pass out “Clean Air Now” flyers at Wednesday’s back-to-school night.
The group wants to ask Superintendent Michelle Reid for complete remediation, more transparency, HVAC repairs and replacement of damaged equipment.
The Fairfax County teachers union is helping lead the effort.
“The first thing that they want is just having, really, very transparent communication,” Fairfax County Federation of Teachers President Emily VanDerhoof. “They’re feeling like things are being kind of swept under the rug and feel they’re not getting the whole picture.”
But an email the FCPS facilities chief sent to families over the weekend says extensive cleaning, remediation and testing already is underway.
About 18,000 square feet of new ceiling tile has been delivered to be used as replacements. And the facilities chief wrote that 35 air scrubbers and 35 dehumidifiers are up and running.
The letter says FCPS will continue to work with outside mold testing and remediation companies to get their guidance.
Conti said she’s still not satisfied.
“We are demanding that there be a full remediation of the mold in the building, not just a weekend cleaning, and that they really stay on this for as long as it takes to get rid of everything,” she said.
Parents want to meet Reid and the facilities director soon for a question-and-answer session.
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