Mold Enters South Carolina School District

3/4/2019 (Permalink)

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — The Horry County School District has been in the seat since mold was found at St. James Elementary School. It quickly started an outcry from parents.

ABC 15 News is digging deeper into the mold issues across the school district. Through a Freedom of Information Act Request, we found five other schools have had some form of mold spores found within the past six months.

That brings the number to six: St James Middle and High Schools, Conway Middle and High Schools, The Academy for the Arts Science and Technology and Aynor High School.

The HCSD is comprised of 52 schools, with about 7.8 million square footage of facilities.

ABC 15's Sydney Glenn sat down with the spokesperson for the district, Lisa Bourcier, to find out how air quality testing is mandated in the district.

“There is no mandates for the testing, and some school districts don’t do indoor air quality testing, but we kind of take it on a case-by-case basis," she said.

It begins with a work order, Bourcier said, and those usually come from staff members.

“Usually when a work order is put in, it’s information to the best of their ability of what they are witnessing or seeing or what the complaint is," she said.

The complaints can range from a bad smell, to a water leak or a stained ceiling tile.

Next, it is determined what needs to be done. In some cases, an air quality test is ordered.

The testing has been preformed since at least 2012, Bourcier said.

The complaints and issues at each school vary, but a common issue in the reports obtained by ABC 15 News were staining around HVAC units.

“Roofs can be an issue, as well as HVAC systems. A lot of times if you see a stained ceiling tile, sometimes the pipes are sweating. It’s not a leak but it’s sweating. We do live in South Carolina, and the humidity plays a big component when you have to deal with indoor air quality and you have to make sure your systems are set," Bourcier said.

Each challenge was met with recommendations from the air quality tester, Palmetto EHS. Cleaning was a solution offered in each report, among other things. Bourcier said all tasks recommended were done.

“Cleaning is an issue. So, we need to make sure everything is cleaned well and the filters are changed out appropriately, which we do have a company when we change out air filters. And again, just making sure those maintenance issues aren’t going out too far," she said.

In terms of follow up, air quality testing being done, and like has been done at St. James Elementary, Bourcier said it is on a case-by-case basis.

The school district is looking to hire a company to help determine best practices when it comes to preventing and dealing with air quality issues and possibly help set district wide standards. The company would also be able to do air quality testing and basically serve as a consultant, Bourcier said. This idea will be discussed and decided on in the upcoming months.

Article from: https://wpde.com/news/abc15-investigates/abc-15-investigates-5-other-horry-county-schools-tested-for-positive-for-mold