FLORENCE - In light of recurring mold problems at Greenwood Elementary School, Florence School District 1 officials plan to conduct a study of the entire school building rather than individual problem areas.
 
The in-depth study, which is expected to cost between $10,000 and $15,000, could take some time to complete. In the meantime, district officials will take measures to address urgent problems by replacing the heating and cooling unit in the media center as well as completing the removal of the rest of the carpet in the building.
 
Greenwood Elementary has experienced recurring mold problems since 2000.
 
Each occurrence has been dealt with, Interim Superintendent Larry Jackson said during a special board meeting Monday night, but new problems continue to arise.
 
This time, mold was discovered in five of the school's classrooms, in which carpet was shampooed while the air conditioning wasn't running. Later, mildew was found on the binding of books in the school's library.
 
"We'd had problems with the library's exterior wall in the past, so I assumed it was another exterior wall problem," engineer Lee Capell of Applied Building Sciences said. "But it wasn't just the exterior walls. This time, mildew was all over the media center."
 
Based on Capell's findings and his own observations, architect Joey Goforth recommended the replacement of the existing 10-ton heat pump unit with two new five-ton units as well as the replacement of all the duct board with new insulated, galvanized steel ductwork including new air devices.
 
"The pump's just old and worn out," Goforth said. "And as for the duct board work, it's not up to modern codes anyway."
 
The carpet in the problem classrooms already has been removed and replaced with tile in all of the rooms but one. Carpet removal in the last room is expected to be complete by week's end.
 
The district has been working on eliminating mold at the school after parents of Greenwood students told Florence School District 1 officials earlier this month of their concerns about mold in the library and classrooms.
Last weekend, a crew of 25 Florence District 1 staff members cleaned the media center from floor to ceiling. The crew also cleaned shelves and each of the 19,000 books in the media center. In addition, the media center is being monitored daily for humidity, and dehumidification in the center also is continuing to take place.
 
The district's efforts apparently have worked thus far. Sonya Best, head nurse for the district, said Monday that of the more than 700 students at Greenwood, only 74 have any respiratory or allergy problems that could be connected to the problems at the school.
 
"I compared that with another school of similar size, and the children at Greenwood actually had less respiratory-related allergies than the other school," Best said. "Where Greenwood had 74, the other school had 101."
 

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