about possibility of
mold in portables
Trailer talk takes center
stage at board meeting
Residents concerned
about possibility of
mold in portables
By joyce blay
Staff Writer
In the aftermath of a final redistricting plan that the Jackson Board of Education announced at its meeting June 17, the issue of trailers and how many are deemed suitable as a substitute for classrooms continues to be debated by parents and school district representatives.
"My No. 1 concern is that the [district] is still monitoring the situation," said Noelle Foti, 34, the mother of three children, two of whom are of school age. "They tax, tax, tax, so we shouldn’t be in this predicament every few years. I want to be reassured that when I send my child, who has severe asthma, to a school that uses trailers which in the past developed mold, my child won’t get sick. I guarantee the trailers will get mold again."
Foti’s other concern was that the trailers are taking the place of classroom space in the Switlik School.
"I understand the [board’s] position, but I don’t think fixing it with trailers time and time again is going to fix their problem. Instead of buying trailers, they should build an addition to the schools they already have like Switlik. Trailers are a quick fix, but in the long run the district is still spending money."
Foti spoke to the Tri-Town News on Monday.
Jackson Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella addressed the issue of trailers and the district’s position with regard to using them at the board meeting last week.
"The simple reality of life in Jackson is that we have 9,122 students," he said. "We’ve grown by 901 students in two years and we project that we have hundreds more coming in the next few years. No matter how we divided up the town or how we draw the [school attendance] lines, we cannot have equitable and reasonable class sizes without utilizing the trailers we have at our schools."
At present the school district uses the following number of trailers: Holman School, six trailers; Johnson School, four trailers; Rosenauer School, three trailers; and Switlik School, 18 trailers, according to information provided to the Tri-Town News by a district spokeswoman.
The superintendent’s explanation was not well received by some residents who were in attendance at the board meeting.
One resident, overwrought with emotion, tears streaming down her cheeks, said, "My life is hell (since the last redistricting)."
Alice Gillas, who said she was a former board member, made an equally heartfelt plea to the board.
"I’m not here as a mother; I’m here as a grandmother," she said. "You people must, absolutely must, go to the Township Com-mittee and the Planning Board and tell them enough. The builders have to stop. There has to be an end to this. Houses are going up everywhere."
Gillas questioned why 12 trailers were being moved to the new Elms Elementary School, which she said should not require them to supplement its space. She also questioned why 25 trailers (18 trailers, according to information provided by school district administrators) were being used to supplement classroom space at Switlik.
Allison Erwin, a spokeswoman for the district, disputed Gillas’ information, as well as other residents’ assertions that the mold problem had not been properly remediated from trailers last year.
"This past October, we closed about 13 trailers due to suspected mold and Dr. (Andrew L.) Port of the Whitman Companies inspected them and made recommendations to the district," Erwin said.
She did not state how many of those trailers had been stationed on Switlik school grounds.
The first action taken by the district was to remove students and staff from areas suspected of having mold contamination until the trailers could be inspected, she said.
"We relocated those students within their school," said Erwin. "Those trailers are still closed and some will be replaced or removed entirely. But no students will be exposed to possible mold contamination. We examined all the trailers and only 13 were found to have mold."
Erwin said that in accordance with recommendations made by Port, the district would test the remaining trailers, and over the summer, install vapor barriers in them, which Erwin described as an insulating layer designed to prevent the formation of mold.
"The district will continue to inspect and test for mold all throughout the year to make sure that all the actions the district are taking are productive," said Erwin. "The safety of our students and staff is as important to us as it is to our district’s parents."
Erwin said the reason the Jackson district has been allowed to continue using the trailers for so many years was due to a long-range facilities plan on file and approved by the state.
However, some residents continued to insist that the district not use trailers at all.
"Why don’t we put administration in trailers, let them experience it," said Carmen Gillas, the daughter-in-law of the previous speaker, Alice Gillas. "I’m here for those children in kindergarten and first grade. Trailers are all they will see."
One resident took board President Michael Hanlon to task over comments he made about the defeated 2003-04 school budget.
"You’re blaming us, the community, because we didn’t vote [for the budget]," she said. "You can’t take back your words, Mr. Hanlon."
Another resident asked why the board did not allocate its financial resources differently so that trailers would not have to be used.
"If you’re short on classrooms," he said, "why fix the gym?"
Gialanella said the decision to allocate funding for the renovation of the gymnasium at Switlik went straight to the heart of equity, as well as a conundrum — the state funds 40 percent of school construction, he said.
Equity was also on the mind of another resident, who not only didn’t like the majority of trailers being used at Switlik, but didn’t like the school itself.
"Why does one school (Switlik) have to look so bad?" asked the resident. "They should look into fixing it up."
That resident’s remark stung board Vice President Gus Acevedo, who said he had attended the Switlik School as a boy.
"Some of the finest people have taught in Switlik’s trailers," said Acevedo. "We will not favor one school because it’s shiny over another because it’s old. As long as we have children that keep moving into this town, there will be one community."