A safe and healthy school building is foundational to students’ ability to learn.
A school’s environmental health can be affected by unpredictable outside forces — an unseasonably hot summer, a flood in the area, or even wildfire smoke from a thousand miles away.
Sometimes, schools face environmental health problems that come from inside their buildings, as is the case in the Plainedge Union Free School District on Long Island, where multiple schools have dealt with persistent mildew and mold.
Mildew and mold are types of fungi that grow on surfaces where moisture has accumulated. Mildew is typically light in color and tends to grow on flat, non-porous surfaces. Mold is raised, fuzzy, and darker in color, usually green or black. Mold often infiltrates walls and ceilings, making it very difficult to remove.
Mildew and mold can both cause respiratory problems, with mold being especially dangerous for vulnerable populations including children, the elderly and people with allergies, asthma and other respiratory conditions.
Over several years, teachers in Plainedge schools reported mildew and mold growing on ceiling tiles, cabinets and other surfaces. Music rooms were most affected, but the problem had started to spread to other areas, like science labs.
Teachers diligently documented and reported the growths. Administrators had the surfaces cleaned, but the mildew and mold kept coming back.
With a change in district leadership this year, Brian Buckley, president of the Plainedge Federation of Teachers, saw an opportunity to dig deeper.
Buckley emphasized that as frustrating as it was that the issue kept coming back, PFT members were driven by a need to protect their students. “This isn’t fun for the janitors and the custodians. It’s obviously not fun for the staff, but we’re putting kids’ health in jeopardy if we don’t fix the problem,” said Buckley.
Buckley continued, “I’m very pragmatic, and it’s all fine and great that you’re cleaning it. But why don’t we find the source?”
With the average age of New York school buildings topping 50 years, it would be easy to assume that mildew and mold are only a problem in older buildings. In truth, improved construction practices in recent decades mean that newer buildings are more airtight, so if a moisture imbalance exists, the new construction effectively seals the problem in and can enhance mold growth.
That’s true in Plainedge, where the building with the most issues, Plainedge Middle School, was built in 2004 and is one of the newest in the district.
A moisture imbalance can be caused by a variety of factors, including plumbing or roof leaks, high humidity, or problems with the heating, ventilation, or air conditioning system, commonly referred to as HVAC.
Because the building in question was fairly new and the mold kept growing back after repeated cleanings, PFT members at the middle school believed the HVAC system was the likely source of the problem. They sought to prove it by measuring relative humidity.
Relative humidity is a measure of the amount of moisture in the air at a certain temperature compared to the air’s total capacity to hold moisture at that temperature. The recommended range for indoor spaces is 30 to 60 percent.
When PFT members measured relative humidity in the areas of the middle school where there was mildew and mold, it approached 80 percent. Buckley provided those readings to the superintendent along with photos of mildew and mold in various classrooms.
The superintendent agreed that the relative humidity readings were concerning, and the next logical step would be to check the HVAC system. An inspection found that the system was not functioning properly, and multiple settings and valves needed to be adjusted.
“With the changes made, we’re all hopeful this will eradicate any future issues,” said Buckley, who has been in PFT leadership for many years but is in his first year as president.
He applauded the work of the previous PFT president and the members who persisted until the problem got fixed.
Addressing a complex issue like mold requires cooperation between teachers, facilities staff and administrators, said Buckley. It’s just one of many lessons that he’ll put into practice as he helps other schools in the district address similar concerns.
For more school environmental health resources from NYSUT’s Program Services Department, visit nysut.cc/healthandsafety.