Mold concerns at St. James Elementary grow despite deep cleaning
Parents’ concerns regarding mold at St. James Elementary School have grown louder despite extensive cleaning conducted over the weekend.
Horry County Schools brought in outside companies on Saturday to clean and change out the school’s HVAC air filters after air quality testing showed concerns in 23 areas throughout the building.
Instead of alleviating concerns, the cleaning left a strong fragrance in the vents Monday that led to several students going home early, according to numerous parents.
District spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier said the strong odor stemmed from an air freshener placed in the HVAC diffusers, and it was removed. She added that all cleaning was completed per industry standards.
Some St. James Elementary parents started a Facebook group Tuesday to publicly address their concerns, and the group quickly gained more than 200 members.
Parents in the group have discussed a potential protest, their communications with district officials and their decisions to keep their children at home until the issue is fully resolved.
Jared Smith, whose daughter is in kindergarten at St. James, said he doesn’t want to send his daughter to school under these conditions, but he’s worried about breaking the law if he doesn’t.
Smith’s daughter has dealt with sinus issues related to allergens in the air, and he’s worried those issues have been caused or at least exacerbated by the mold.
He said he’s pretty much lost trust in district leadership, but he’s not looking to place blame; he just wants it fixed.
School board members David Cox and Helen Smith, whose districts include St. James, said they believe the district is taking appropriate steps. But they understand parents’ concerns, and their primary goal is to ensure the students’ safety.
Cox said he’s been fielding numerous calls and emails from parents, and their complaints seem to stem from the district not addressing these issues quickly enough.
“We’re doing everything we can do, but apparently it’s not enough,” he said. “I don’t know what is enough.”
Meredith Smith, whose daughter is in first grade at St. James, noted a long delay between an initial air quality test and cleaning.
According to documents she received via a Freedom of Information Act request, Palmetto EHS, LLC conducted testing on a small sampling of classrooms in late November and issued its report to the district Dec. 3.
That report showed amplified mold levels in five rooms, but an email from Principal Felisa McDavid to parents Jan. 11 states cleaning wasn’t conducted until Jan. 8-10.
Bourcier said she wasn’t aware of that timeline because she didn’t have those documents immediately available.
The initial report also shows that one of the classrooms recommended for cleaning showed up again with amplified mold levels during the follow-up testing conducted Jan. 21.
Bourcier said that’s why the district does follow-up testing, and they are planning to conduct more follow-up testing in the near future. No date has been set.
Meredith Smith said she’s looking at ways to keep her daughter out of school until the district identifies and fixes the source of the mold.
Bourcier said there’s no single source, but they’ve identified the best course of action is to stay diligent in monitoring and cleaning the building.
This story was originally published February 6, 2019 at 5:27 PM.
