Westport calls it mildew. Other school districts call it mold. In any case, Westports cost of getting rid of it this fall is at least $124,000 plus a little more than $85,000 in custodial fees for a total of just under $210,000.
Supt. of Schools Elliott Landon presented the preliminary cost estimate to the Board of Education Tuesday night.
Nancy Harris, the schoolҒs assistant superintendent for business, said while all the bills were not in, she did not anticipate much of an increase in the figure.
Both school officials said other school districts in Connecticut had faced similar problems this fall due to wet, humid summer conditions and often had to pay much higher costs to remediate the problem.
Harris praised the cooperation of Judy Nelson, Westport Weston health director, Gary Martin, the schools facilities director, and the districtҒs custodial staff, for their aggressive, cooperative efforts to eliminate the mildew problem.
We acted as SWAT team every morning for a while,Ӕ Harris told the board.
Landon said that one result of the problem was that he did not anticipate any carpets being used in the current $74 million expansion and renovation of Staples High School.
I donӒt think youll see any carpet in the new Staples High School,Ҕ he said. ThatӒs a given.
Board member Mary Parmelee said she was asking the “$124,000” question by asking Harris where the money would come from to pay for the mildew/mold removal.
Landon, Harris and board chair Sandra Urist said they would be in a better position to answer the question when they had the preliminary quarterly school operations cost figures.
