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KINGSTON — While teachers removed supplies from the mold-infested Wyoming Valley West Middle School Thursday, the school district’s brain-trust gathered in the administrative offices to discuss options on how to resolve the environmental dilemma.

District solicitor Charles Coslett said there are no state or federal guidelines on how to deal with a situation like the one discovered earlier this week at the former Kingston High School on Chester Street.

“We’re almost in a dark area here,” Coslett said outside the administration building on Maple Avenue. “Our priority here is to assure that we don’t place our students and staff in harm’s way.”

To that end, Coslett said the district has retained the services of Environmental Abatement Associates of Kingston to locate the source of the water leak, fix the problem, clean up the mold and make the school safe for use again.

Wayne Thomas, president of EAA, said his company might have an initial report on its findings by the end of business Friday.

“We’re doing everything we can to respond to this problem and to address it,” Coslett said. “At this point, it is our understanding that there is no discernible problem with mold in any other building in the district.”

According to Coslett and Superintendent Irv DeRemer:

• The entire middle school will be inspected and tested for the presence of mold.

• Air quality tests and visual inspections will be conducted in all district buildings.

• All high school and junior high school athletic schedules will proceed uninterrupted. Early dismissals will be allowed when necessary for participants to make scheduled events.

• Beginning Monday, high school students will attend classes from 7 a.m. to 11:48 a.m.

• Middle school students will report at 11:45 a.m. and attend classes until 4:06 p.m.

• Meals will be provided for all students.

• Bus schedules will be adjusted to allow for the new class schedules. Information will be posted on the district’s website: wvwsd.org.

• When middle school students arrive at the high school building, eighth graders will report to the cafeteria and sixth and seventh graders will report to the gymnasium; once all middle school students are in the building, then high school students will be dismissed and middle school students will proceed to class.

DeRemer said district officials were busily re-working bus schedules Thursday to allow for the new normal in the district. He said he was preparing a letter to all parents that would fully explain district operations while the middle school mold issue is resolved.

DeRemer said the plan being implemented at the middle school has several phases:

• EAA will conduct an air quality test of the entire building and also identify the source of any water leaks that may have caused the mold to form.

• When the source of the mold is located, the leak will be repaired and remediation of the mold will be done.

• Once the mold is removed, repairs will be made and another air quality test of the building will be done.

DeRemer said EAA will provide a report of the entire middle school by early next week.

“Then the work will commence,” he said. “Safety is the key.”

DeRemer said a middle school educator asked the district to check the teachers’ room after noticing a discoloration on a wall in the classroom.

“The inspection was done immediately and, since then, we have been doing everything necessary to address the matter,” DeRemer said.

After it was learned mold was present, the superintendent said, a number of middle school teachers requested their rooms be checked.

“That’s when we decided to do a full inspection of the entire building,” DeRemer said. “We will then have a complete report on the building.”

Coslett said he, DeRemer and Thomas met with WVW School Board President Joe Mazur, board members Gary Evans and Brian Dubaskas and Dave Tosh, director of secondary education, to discuss the situation, decide on the temporary schedule adjustments and explore options.

Coslett said he was aware of “social media hysteria” regarding the situation, but he would not respond to any of it.

“We are doing everything we can to respond to this situation and address it,” Coslett said.

Facts about mold

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website:

• Potential health effects and symptoms associated with mold exposures include allergic reactions, asthma and other respiratory complaints. Molds have the potential to cause health problems.

• Molds produce allergens (substances that can cause allergic reactions) and irritants. Inhaling or touching mold or mold spores may cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Allergic responses include hay fever-type symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose, red eyes and skin rash.

• Allergic reactions to mold are common. They can be immediate or delayed. Molds can also cause asthma attacks in people with asthma who are allergic to mold. In addition, mold exposure can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, throat and lungs of both mold-allergic and non-allergic people. Symptoms other than the allergic and irritant types are not commonly reported as a result of inhaling mold. Research on mold and health effects is ongoing.

• There is no practical way to eliminate all mold and mold spores in the indoor environment; the way to control indoor mold growth is to control moisture.

• If mold is a problem in a home or school, it must be cleaned up and the source of moisture eliminated.

• Fix the source of the water problem or leak to prevent mold growth.

• Reduce indoor humidity (to 30-60 percent) to decrease mold growth.

• Molds can be found almost anywhere; they can grow on virtually any substance, providing moisture is present. There are molds that can grow on wood, paper, carpet and foods.

Wyoming Valley West. 9/27/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Wyoming-Valley-West-Middle-School-5.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Valley West. 9/27/16. Sean McKeag | Times Leader

Teachers leave the Wyoming Valley West Middle School Thursday with supplies they will need while teaching at the WVW High School.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL093016teachers1-1.jpg.optimal.jpgTeachers leave the Wyoming Valley West Middle School Thursday with supplies they will need while teaching at the WVW High School. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

By Bill O’Boyle

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Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.