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Problem with mold and mildew at Southern High continue to grow
A new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies concludes that mold can cause serious health problems, a finding that could be cause for concern among Southern High School students and faculty as the campus continues to serve as a breeding ground for the fungus. More than the recent rise in foul play at the Santa Rita campus, which has resulted in fires and vandalism, is the growing problem of mold and mildew.
It's been two years and the campus continues to serve as a breeding ground for the fungus. With past administrators and current ones still attributing the issue to the lack of fully functioning air conditioners, it appears that the Department of Education still hasn't resolved the problem. DOE spokesperson Gerry Cruz said, "If we had had an operating chiller unit and [air conditioning] system, that would keep those classrooms cold the problem wouldn't exist, we wouldn't have to worry about it."
Like a house, the hot spots for mold growth are areas where water can seep in from the outside, windows and other places vulnerable to water seepage. And once mold starts it continues to spread, as it has at Southern High. With DOE banking on new air conditioning units to dry out the wet spots and resolve the problem once and for all, agency officials say that steps toward the resolution are tentatively scheduled for January 9, which is when the Department plans to receive new package A/C units.
Cruz says that once the units are in and there's a mitigation plan to clean up the ducts, only then will they be able to get a vendor and make a final assessment of the problem.
But with the mold being an issue that could potentially compromise the health and safety of students, KUAM News inquired as to why it wasn't addressed by the Governor's School Recovery Task Force at the start of the school year. Answered Cruz, "[The Department of] Public Health had cited schools for many violations, from cafeteria to lavatories to you need to put a walkway here for [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliance so the immediate issues that had to be addressed right then and there before August 17 had to be taken care of first, otherwise schools would not have opened."
Cruz maintains that while there is no final answer to the issue; the Department is exploring numerous options to help students and teachers deal with the problem in the meantime. "We need to find out first if it's cost effective to clean the school, move the kids to this wing, or move them to another school, so the decisions to make those plans still have not been solidified yet so we'll be premature in telling people anything because we don't want to jump the gun," he explained.
Officials from the Guam Environmental Protection Agency confirm that they have offered technical assistance to find a solution to the mold problems. GEPA spokesperson Michael Mann says they will advise them on ways to address it or point them in a direction that would help the school to know more about mold. While Mann confirms that it is definitely an environmental health issue, the agency does not have any mold experts to provide direct assistance.
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