MIDDLETOWN -- Teacher Heather Rodman and her 17-student second-grade class returned from winter break to find their classroom quarantined while a cleaning crew attacked a mold problem at her portable classroom at the Van Buren Moody Elementary School.
 
Rodman says staff have been complaining for over two years about leaking roofs and a lingering mildew smell, but last week was the breaking point for her: Her second-grade class was relocated to the library for four days, while officials tended to mold problems within one wall of her classroom.

Her class was moved again when more mold problems were discovered behind a library shelf, she said. Now she’s teaching in a teacher’s prep classroom, creating lessons without standard supplies such as math workbooks, which are still quarantined.

She said the kids are handling the unexpected move well: "My class as a whole has been troopers."

But Rodman and a crowd of about 40 staff and parents who gathered at Tuesday’s school board meeting told officials they were not happy campers.

School board members have responded sympathetically, urging quick remedy. "There’s a (second-grade) class that isn’t getting the best experience now in school and that bothers me," said school board Vice Chair Ted Raczka after the meeting.

"We need to take it very seriously and get it fixed." At the meeting, Raczka urged that a timeline be presented and a subcommittee formed.

Besides relocation inconveniences, Rodman worried about the removal process: Mold-contaminated objects were wheeled through school hallways in a Dumpster, instead of being removed outside by a more direct route.

City health department officials at the school Tuesday said the wall in Rodman’s classroom had been cleaned over break, but, responding to criticism within the school, the city will have the job done again.

"There was enough concern from teachers as to how the process was handled," said Sal Nesci of the city health department, "that we -- the superintendent, school board, mayor and the health department -- will keep the room cordoned off and have it cleaned by a different cleaning service."

Nesci said the project would be overseen by a third-party manager not only to ensure sanitation, but to ensure confidence from staff and teachers.

The room was closed on Dec. 30 at 4 p.m., said Nesci. "We hope to have it re-opened immediately following MLK’s birthday," which is celebrated on Monday.

"The health department is in charge -- they will do an excellent job. I have confidence in them," remarked school Principal Claudia Norman Tuesday.

Those concerned are invited to a public forum on this topic on Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Moody School.
 

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