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Just When You Think It’s Safe …
By Debby Carrier, Torrington
Torrington Middle School. It's like those movies. The Never Ending Story or The Money Pit or Jaws. Just when you think it’s safe to go back into the building a new problem is uncovered.
When you look at TMS the building appears to be perfect. But as we all know, beauty is only skin deep. It's what’s inside that counts.
And what is inside? When it rains outside it rains inside. The roof that was put on TMS is not the roof that was designed for the building. Somewhere along the way it was decided the district could save $2 million. As we all know, cheaper is not always better. The roof has leaked, severely, since the day it was put on. Everyone knows that Borghesi has finally agreed to "fix" the roof. But it seems the "expert" crew that Borghesi hired (for the cheapest price?) has never done a retrofit like this. I guess Torrington enjoys being used and played for the fool. But hey, don't worry. We have been assured that the "expert" crew will go back and redo any "failed" repairs. Why can't the job be done right in the first place?
On June 1, 2002, Dr. Lstiburek did an inspection of TMS. He gave the district only four recommendations: replace the roof; clean the carpets; replace all damaged ceiling tiles; and increase the ventilation. Dr. Lstiburek’s recommendation was to replace the roof. He stated that a "repair" would not work. We have already lost seven years of the roof warranty even though the roof has never been watertight.
To date, only one of Dr. Lstiburek’s recommendations has been completed. The carpets are clean. Finally. No, the custodial staff did not clean them. We did not have the proper equipment to clean the carpets in the correct manner to get rid of all the contaminants. Lapointe’s Carpet Cleaning in Winsted was finally hired to professionally clean the carpets. They did an outstanding job. Too bad the contamination of the carpets is continuing because the roof still leaks.
Ceiling tiles won't be replaced until the roof is "fixed." Well, I guess that one will never get done! When you visit TMS, look up, and you will see the many stained and moldy ceiling tiles. If the district can't replace the tiles until the roof is "fixed," then at least we should remove the moldy tiles and leave the ceiling open. This way we aren't adding more mold to the indoor environment and causing additional health problems.
The roof "repairs" will continue for another 5-6 weeks. The repairs were supposed to begin in April, but I was told that someone wanted the district to sign documents stating that they weren't responsible any longer if the repairs failed. Well, let's thank God that the city and the school district didn't sign that! So something that should have already been completed is still dragging on. We were told that this "expert" crew would be working all day until 7 p.m. and on weekends if necessary to ensure that this project is completed as soon as possible. We were also told that 6-7 workers would be on the roof. For the past two weeks I have seen only 2-4 workers, who seem to mostly finish their day by 1 p.m. Areas of the roof that were already "fixed" are leaking. Ask any 6th grader in the Green Cluster if it was raining in their science class. The "repairs" over the last seven years have not worked; TMS needs a new roof.
Dr. Lstiburek's final recommendation was to increase ventilation. When you have problems in a building—such as pollutants, contaminants, particulate matter, mold, dust mite feces—you can increase the ventilation to flush out all the "bad" stuff in the air. This seemed like a great concept. Of course you have to stop all the other problems, but in the meantime increase the ventilation. It would help.
The HVAC system at the school has been running 24/7 since June 1. A question posed by Dr. Lstiburek and most recently by Tom Mela, Chief Attorney for the Office for Civil Rights, was whether—even though the system is on all the time—the building occupants are actually getting outside air. Dr. Lstiburek requested that the system be tested and the figures be available for him to review before his reinspection. Unfortunately, the testing didn't occur before the reinspection, and although Dr. Lstiburek noted that he could feel the air in the building, he needed the actual numbers before he would make any determination. He said he was "cautiously optimistic."
The district hired Wing Testing & Balancing Co. to come in and test the HVAC system. While Wing was conducting their tests it was determined that there was a design flaw in the HVAC system. Even though TMS is taking in enough outside air for the building’s occupants, the air isn't actually getting to them. Each person in the building should be getting approximately 15-20 cfm (cubic feet per minute) of outside air. Wing only tested two classrooms, in which the students and teachers are getting approximately 1 cfm of outside air per person. At this point Wing stopped testing, which had been scheduled to take place from 4-11 p.m. over a two-week period. (Who knew, in this day and age of making a quick buck, that a company actually could have integrity—they could have easily milked Torrington for a nice chunk of change!) In their preliminary report, they stated: "Based upon our initial findings and the need for major changes, we can't provide the required ventilation rates by making some simple adjustments. The magnitude of the overall project is huge …"
Now we have a major new problem that will require an engineer to come in and design a "fix." Estimates I heard at the recent Board of Education meeting are between $100,000 and $200,000. Who designed the system that’s in the building now?!
Wing did offer their support in making a presentation to the Board of Education to explain the existing inadequacies. I understand that when the original testing was done in 1994, that report also showed some issues with the HVAC system. It seems that, like so many other things, this was pushed under the rug in hopes that no one would find out.
Because my children became quite ill while attending TMS and I filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, TMS will someday be a great place. The threat of losing all federal funding is too big a risk, so the school district will "fix" everything. They have no choice. TMS will eventually have a healthy environment. But in the meantime, students and staff are still getting sick—very sick.
Torrington Middle School is not OK. Administrators need to give parents accurate and correct information. When parents come to administrators and tell them their child is having nosebleeds and problems breathing—especially in a room that had students with problems last year—hopefully the administrators won't tell the parents that since the building is "clean," it can’t be the cause of the problems. The only thing clean is the carpet. Administrators need to stop trying to cover up problems that exist and which have been documented. Parents, please be aware of any new or exacerbated health problems your child may experience—such as asthma, allergies, nosebleeds, etc. Please feel free to call Debby Carrier at 482-0148, Linda Hall at 482-1236, or Melinda Woiten at 489-1341 if you have any questions or concerns. Staff may also contact us.
Training for the EPA's Tools for Schools program, which helps to identify indoor air quality problems before they get out of control, is scheduled to begin on October 3. This is a proactive approach which will be used in all the schools within the district.
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