Modular Schools Exhibit Mold Problems
 

 
RALEIGH, N.C. -- As Wake County Schools officials prepare to begin construction on three modular elementary schools to handle escalating enrollments, contractors have only recently cleaned up mold problems at four similar schools.
 
The school district plans to open the three modular schools this fall in Raleigh, Wendell and Wake Forest. The last one prompted weeks of protest from parents concerned about the location of the temporary school.
 
But district officials uncovered a more pressing problem at several existing modular buildings -- moldy growth that resulted in strong odors.
 
"Tests found mold spores that were above the levels of mold spores outside," Assistant Superintendent of Facilities Mike Burriss said. "Pieces of flashing and caulking were actually left out of the assembly process, and that allowed an intrusion of water in a driving rain."
 
Contractors moved in at Enloe High School and Brentwood and Willow Springs elementary schools and the Longview alternative school over spring break to correct the problem quickly.
 
"Just as a child can have a severe peanut reaction, he may have same kind of reaction to mold," Burris said.
 
The modular schools are produced by assembling a number of classroom units and a hallway into one building. He said rooms where mold was found were isolated and cleaned up.
 
"A dry ice machine actually freezes and kills the mold itself, and then we applied an encapsulated paint," he said.
 
The effort has cost $107,000 so far, and Burriss said the contractors would pick up the repair tab.
 
The manufacturer of the modular units also has made design changes to the overhangs and building materials to prevent future problems, he said.
 
 
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