By Jarret Liotta
UPDATE Westport Superintendent of Schools Colleen Palmer told parents today that the proposed closure of Coleytown Middle School (CMS) due to mold and related air-quality concerns possibly could extend through the school year.
More than 100 persons attended the information session at Bedford Middle School. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Jarret Liotta for WestportNow.com
She made the comment in a email following Thursday’s emergency Board of Education meeting. At another emergency board meeting late today, the board approved the pupil shifting plan to move sixth and seventh grade students to Bedford Middle School, and eighth grade students to Staples High School.
“If necessary, it is possible that the students of CMS may remain at BMS and SHS for the entire year,” Palmer said in the email. She initially had said the school closure could last three to four weeks.
Palmer said in a tweet Thursday night If approved, CMS students would have partial day on Monday, and a full day Tuesday.
At Thursday night’s board meeting, Palmer said: “On Tuesday there was tremendous concern and we had numerous students who said they did not feel well in the building.
She said that 50 students went to the nurse complaining of various symptoms including nausea and dizziness.
Many more did not even come to school following Monday’s evacuation of the building, which was prompted by eight staff members and one student complaining of illness.
On Tuesday afternoon Palmer announced that CMS would remain closed for the remainder of the week.
Parent reaction was mixed at an informational meeting that took place at Bedford Middle School Thursday night after the announcement at the board meeting.
ue Calger, who raised questions of why the Board of Education held a last-minute executive session earlier in the evening, addresses the panel as Board of Education members, at right, listen. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Jarret Liotta for WestportNow.com
Some parents applauded the move and the administration’s efforts, and others said that the administration had failed to deal with the mold issue at CMS in a timely manner and was now playing catch-up.
“There seems to be, I think, a crisis of judgment,” said parent Nick Sadler.
“It’s been a problem for many, many years, so we’ve had a lot of time to think about this,” he said.
“You got it wrong,” he said, asking if a refund of some of the more than $600,000 spent on professional services was in order, as well as an apology from the administration.
“If I missed anything in this whole thing, I am sorry,” said Palmer, expressing full responsibility for the work of her staff. “I care deeply about these children.”
“I am recommending to you that we relocate the students and staff of Coleytown Middle in our own facilities,” Palmer said, explaining that renting a different building would take too long to organize.
“A separate area that can be totally isolated,” she said, would be designated at Staples for eighth graders, probably in a first-floor wing, with separate bathroom facilities available and no interaction permitted with the high school students.
She called it “a sort of self-contained academy for the eighth-grade students. They would not co-mingle with high school students. They will not be in locker rooms with high school students.”
She said consideration was given to have two shifts of students at Bedford, with CMS sixth and seventh graders attending school from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m., but this was deemed too disruptive.
-Superintendent of Schools Colleen Palmer announces her plan to close Coleytown Middle School for three to four weeks and relocate students to Staples and Bedford Middle Schools at an emergency meeting of the Board of Education. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Jarret Liotta for WestportNow.com
“Part of our goal is to minimize disruption,” she said, noting with this scenario the bus schedules would remain comparable, though details are still being worked out.
She added that the CMS sixth graders, who are already experiencing a significant transition from elementary school, would be given time next week to have an introductory tour of Bedford.
“I anticipate that that work, done properly, will take three to four weeks,” Palmer said of the CMS project, with Yale Occupational and Environmental Medicine having agreed to work with the town and help evaluate what exactly is happening there.
Further decisions, Palmer said, would come about over the next few weeks, including the possibility of CMS remaining shut, but she stressed the public would be kept abreast of developments.
“Knowing that there’s a plan in place is very comforting and very helpful,” said parent Merri Mueller.
“I think we were all freaking out Monday and Tuesday … not knowing what was happening,” she said.
Another parent, Dr. Audrey Paul, said significant anxiety was raised following the evacuation when no communication was immediately sent home.
“You don’t know how scary it is when you have to wait for WestportNow to put out an announcement,” she said, in order to learn the facts of the situation.
Paul echoed worries of Dr. Jennifer Wider, a parent who said the work itself on the mold could be causing new problems.
“My concern is that the remediation process … could have caused some of these acute symptoms we’ve seen,” she said, including use of organic solvents and the constant running of a mammoth diesel-powered dehumidification system.
“We’re gonna find out,” Palmer said.
“There’s been no discussion to tear down the building,” Palmer said.
“I don’t want to lead you to believe we’re going down that path,” she said, noting a big difference between a potentially $2-million overhaul and “tens of millions” for a new structure.
At least one school board member, Vic Muktavaram, stated his disappointed with the way things have gone, addressing Palmer at the meeting earlier in the evening.
“We’ve been talking about this for eight weeks,” he said.
“What I heard from the parents (at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting), there was anger and there was concern,” the latter of which he said he had shared.
“Today I feel that same anger in terms of how we could have missed something … What changed between Monday and Tuesday? … Why did we not foresee this?” Muktavaram said.
“We have done everything in terms of … seeking out professionals to guide us,” Palmer said.
Some parents expressed their hope that the administration would be much more transparent with the process and related results.
Some said this was not the case several years ago when Kings Highway School experienced health problems supposedly related to mold.
“I would encourage you to continue to be open and honest,” one parent said, drawing applause from the crowd at BMS, which at one point numbered more than 100 persons.
