TARPON SPRINGS - About a hundred parents came to City Hall on Monday night with questions about possible mold problems at Tarpon Springs Elementary School.
They left with few answers.
 
The school closed its library and cafeteria in September after concerns were raised about respiratory and other health problems for students and staff.
 
Pinellas County school superintendent Clayton Wilcox could not tell parents Monday when the cafeteria and library would reopen - if ever. Those answers will likely come Nov. 14, the day Wilcox expects to get the full results to tests being conducted at the school.
 
So far, no mold or mildew has been confirmed in the school, he said.
 
In the meantime, a portable cafeteria and library are being placed on campus. Wilcox said he expects the portable library to open by the end of the week and the portable cafeteria to open sometime next week.
 
"We have a problem," Wilcox said. "We will fix it. If we can't fix it, we'll find alternative solutions."
 
Those solutions include moving students to other area schools as the district builds a new Tarpon Springs Elementary School, but only if the tests show the school is beyond rehabilitation.
Many parents expressed their preference for a new school. But building one would take at least two years and could cost the district $14-million to $18-million, Wilcox said. Tarpon Springs is No. 14 on a county list of schools requiring new buildings, he said.
 
Wilcox offered to allow a small number of children to transfer to neighboring schools, but he said space was not available for a large number to transfer.
 
He spoke for 20 minutes before answering more than an hour of questions from about a dozen parents.
 
Rhonda Thompson, whose daughter is a third-grader at Tarpon Springs, asked Wilcox how the school's buildings have been "allowed to deteriorate to such misery."
 
He said several factors, including its age, contributed to the decline.
 
Thompson said her daughter and two older children have suffered from severe asthma and allergies.
 
More than 50 parents and staff members met with school district officials Sept. 20. Many also attended Monday's meeting and expressed frustration with what they said was the school district's lack of action and poor communication about meeting times.
 
"Very little was said last time, very little was said this time," said Roy Allison, who has a daughter in the fourth grade. "Once again, the tests are still in progress. We're in the same boat we were in last time."
 

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