Orchard Hill Elementary shut down through Thursday
By: Jeff Milgram
MONTGOMERY – Students at the Orchard Hill Elementary School got four extra days of summer vacation Monday when the school was closed through Thursday while crews clean up an extensive mildew growth on carpets and furniture.
The reopening will be conditioned on environmental test results and if insulation is removed from all pipes used in the school’s cooling system. The source of the mildew was traced to the insulation, school district Business Administrator James Strimple said Monday.
The decision to close the school was made Sunday and members of the PTA began making calls to all parents, interim Superintendent Thomas Butler said.
The problem was discovered Tuesday, when custodians found deposits of mildew on furniture and rugs in about 10 classrooms, Mr. Strimple said. The custodians cleaned the school Tuesday and Wednesday but an environmental company found spots on Thursday, Mr. Strimple said.
On Thursday night, the 10 classrooms were fogged with a chemical that should have cleaned up the mildew, Mr. Strimple said. The air inside the school was tested and the test results will be known on Thursday.
On Friday, more mildew was found on wooden furniture and township officials and members of the Montgomery Township Board of Education were notified, Mr. Strimple said.
At this time school officials believed the school could be opened Monday, the first day of the new school year.
"On Friday evening we decided we would fog the entire building," Mr. Strimple said.
The district also hired an industrial cleaning company to clean all surfaces in the building. The air conditioning system also was checked. And there it was found that the insulation around pipes that carry cold water was wet.
"We’re removing every piece of insulation," said Mr. Strimple. All the carpets will be cleaned and those areas that were stained will be replaced.
The insulation will be replaced with rubber-based insulation.
Mr. Strimple said the district closed the school because there is no standard for exposure to mildew and people react differently to mildew.
Some people have no reaction, but others can react with runny noses or sneezing, Mr. Strimple said.
He said the air conditioning system is only about 3 to 4 years old.
Mr. Strimple said the mildew was aggravated by the wet conditions this summer.
Dr. Butler praised the reaction by the parents. "I think the parents did a wonderful job, the PTA in particular," Dr. Butler said.
The district will hold a public meeting on the situation beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Montgomery Township High School.