East Windsor school district testing found one modular classroom with a high level of mold.
By: David Pescatore
HIGHTSTOWN Air quality tests performed in Hightstown High School’s modular classrooms showed one room to have an unacceptable level of mold spores.
Classes that were using Room 122, which held 21 students, were moved to other classrooms throughout the main building Feb. 14.
The conditions in the modular classrooms have been contested since the East Windsor Education Association presented a list of 39 complaints, pertaining to the additions, to the school board in January.
The list included odors that made people sick and caused respiratory illnesses, inadequate heating and cooling, damp carpets, and inoperable windows.
The next step for the offending classroom, according to district Business Administrator David Shafter, is to locate the source of the fungus.
"They are looking under the carpet, in the walls near a prior repair, and in the HVAC system," he said.
As for the other rooms tested, Mr. Shafter said he was satisfied that "they are safe as far as pollen spores and mold. We just have to make sure they don’t exceed (their maximum number of students)." Mr. Shafter has said in the past that uncomfortable conditions may sometimes be the result of overcrowding.
Terri Tuliszewski, EWEA representative for the high school, was not as convinced of the rooms’ safety.
"What we want is all of the rugs tested in all of the modular classrooms," she said. "After we get those results we will decide if we are satisfied."
Ms. Tuliszewski said the tests on the rugs in all of the rooms were to have been performed Thursday.
EWEA President Jan Amenhauser said the teachers "appreciate that (the district) acted on what they knew" as a result of the testing.
Another classroom, which was overcrowded, was converted to a copy center. The displaced students were also relocated into the main building.
At Monday’s school board meeting, Mr. Shafter announced that some work had been done in response to the other complaints about the modular classrooms.
One broken window was replaced and parts were ordered for another.
Broken coils in the heating system were repaired or replaced in three rooms, and repairs are planned to fix unstable sections of flooring in four rooms.
Mr. Shafter has maintained that most of the items on the union’s list of complaints will be solved either through the construction projects scheduled for this summer or within the next five years through the district’s five-year plan.

