Air Quality Committee Discusses May Whitney Checklist

The Indoor Air Quality Committee held its fall meeting Monday afternoon, spending the better part of the hour-and-a-half-long meeting discussing the building inspection checklist.

The committee members — including parents and District 95 officials — examined three documents provided at the meeting: the minutes from the committee's last meeting held May 24; radon tests for May Whitney Elementary; and the checklist itself.

Lyle Erstad, the district's director of facilities, addressed each of the issues on the checklist that were marked as "false." One such issue dealt with drainage, with this statement marked as being "false": "No evidence of drainage problems exist. Water drains away from the building, including roof downspouts." Erstad mentioned the extreme rain that fell on the area in August, which resulted in May Whitney Elementary taking on two inches of water in the cafeteria kitchen.

"In the worst case, the water was out in less than 45 minutes and staff was there cleaning it up," Erstad said. While this was a rare event because of the amount of rain that fell in such a short time, Erstad said the bigger issue is that the stormwater management system needs work. "We have followed all of the regulations, all of the requirements for stormwater management.

"The long and short of it is we're taking proactive steps and we'll be working with our civil engineer to come up with a solution," said Erstad.

There were no Environmental Protection Agency violations as a result of the flooding, added Vicky Cullinan, assistant superintendent of business and operations.

Parent Eileen Maloney said this wasn't the only time the building has taken on water and noted that the risk is that health issues could arise from water entering the building.

"We need a really solid way to manage that risk," she said.

Erstad said finding a solution is on the district's priority list for next spring and summer.

The committee also discussed the data recorded for occupied space temperatures/relative humidity, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The highest temperatures recorded, for example, were in rooms 120B and 118B, which saw readings of 73.3 and 76.6 degrees, respectively. The lowest temperature was in room 110, with a reading of 66.5 degrees. The district's temperature standards are 70-73 degrees in the winter and 74-80 degrees in the summer in air-conditioned areas (74-85 in non-air-conditioned areas).

The district's aim in terms of relative humidity is 30 to 60 percent. The highest relative humidity was in room 224, with a reading of 68.1 percent. The lowest was in room 118, with a reading of 39.9 percent. Erstad said any readings that failed to meet the district's standards will result in a work order to perform maintenance.

Work orders have already been written to address high carbon dioxide readings in various areas of May Whitney Elementary, according to the checklist. The formula to achieve the threshold limits is as follows: 700 parts per million plus the outside air carbon dioxide parts per million. The readings should have been less than 1,084 or 1,129. The highest readings, however, were found in rooms 109 and 224, which saw readings of 2,817 and 1,502 parts per million, respectively.

Erstad said the areas with the high readings had fan coil units that were shut off and the windows weren't open. During an Oct. 13 inspection, the fain coil unit in room 224 had been shut off due to the motor overheating and shutting itself off. That motor has been replaced.

Other issues addressed at the meeting included:

• Several classrooms had univent air flow systems that had been shut off. Erstad said teachers found that their classrooms were getting too cool. Teachers will be told that the univents must not be shut off, Erstad said.

• Some water damage issues were found, including stained ceiling tiles in: room 21, due to a leaking unit ventilator; in room 120B, due to a leaking pipe; and room 219, due to an old roof leak. Work orders were written to replace the tiles. Superintendent Mike Egan added that there are no more water leaks to report.

• All schools will be retested for radon in coming months, starting with May Whitney by the end of the year, said Erstad. Maloney said she doesn't trust the validity of the previous readings, which were taken in 2009. "It's not something to be taken lightly," added parent Carolyn Fitzgerald. Erstad noted that radon testing in schools is not required by the state. Erstad aims to become certified to perform the testing.

The Indoor Air Quality Committee will meet again in February.