INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Mold found at two Indian River County schools this year is expected to be scrubbed away by the end of the summer.
 
Work at Osceola Magnet School is scheduled to begin June 6, after students have left the building for the summer, said Gerry Koziel, director of risk management for the district.
 
The district is expected to choose a company this week to do the mold remediation in eight Osceola classrooms where mold was discovered, Koziel said. The cost of the project ranges from $14,000 to $28,000.
 
Work at Sebastian River High School could begin sometime mid-June, Koziel said. The district is determining the size and scope of the project, so a cost estimate is not available yet, he said.
 
Complaints about mold at Osceola began soon after school reopened after the September hurricanes. Parents have been saying for months that mold at the school is making their children ill with sneezing, coughing and other respiratory problems. School officials have said the school is safe.
 
Each classroom at Osceola was inspected for mold. Only those classrooms where mold was found will get the remediation.
 
Sebastian River High School teachers started reporting health concerns a few months ago, citing the mold in the school as the source of their problems. Some teachers and students were moved to portable classrooms until the school's roof could be repaired.
 
SRHS sustained damage to its roof during the hurricanes. Officials believe water intrusion may have caused the mold.
 
Koziel said it is uncertain how long the mold found in some Osceola classrooms existed before being discovered, since the bacteria was found in classrooms that had no water intrusion.
 
"We have a gut feeling it was probably there before (the hurricanes)," he said.
 
Koziel said he has not gotten any new mold complaints at either school or from other district schools.
"It's been quiet," he said.
 

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