Groups find no cause of illnesses at Oak Ridge school : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis

GREENSBORO — National environmental health experts said Thursday they found no immediate source for what could be causing illnesses at Oak Ridge Elementary School.

Those initial findings drew immediate skepticism from parents who attended a news conference with the experts.

“As of right now, I don’t know what I’m going to do, but my child isn’t going to this school,” Elise Flakoll said. A school board committee denied her request Thursday to have her son reassigned to another school. He is set to enter fourth grade.

Scientists and medical professionals from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the environmental engineering firm Turner Building Science and Design, said it will take weeks before either can produce final reports.

However, both teams reported that they found no proliferation of mold at the school or any other single cause for illnesses reported by students and employees for the past five years. Officials said additional lab testing must be done.

“This building is, relatively speaking, one of the cleaner, better maintained buildings we’ve seen,” said Turner Vice President Steven Caulfield. “We were generally pleased with the condition of the school.”

Complaints of illnesses at the school began in 2005 after renovations and an addition at the school opened.

Caulfield said his group did find some potential problem areas in the school and will make recommendations for how the school system can address those issues. Those recommendations could help ease symptoms reported at the school, he said.

Aside from looking for mold, the groups tested air flow, took dust samples and inspected the school’s heating and air-conditioning system, among other tests.

The groups also reviewed results from a survey of students and employees done by the county health department. Jean Cox-Ganser, who led the NIOSH team, said the survey provided good data that will help inform her team’s analysis. Cox-Ganser said exposure to high amounts of mold could cause many of the symptoms reported at the school.

Still unknown is whether the school can reopen Aug. 25, the first day of class in Guilford County. School board member Darlene Garrett, whose district includes Oak Ridge, said that decision should not be made until final reports from both organizations have been reviewed.

That could be after the start of school.

“I guess we’ll have to start school somewhere else then,” Garrett said.

A committee of parents and district staff has discussed plans for an alternative site for several weeks. A recommendation to Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green could come today.

The committee has discussed splitting the school up by grade level and sending students to other schools, including Allen Jay Middle School and Colfax and Reedy Fork elementary schools. That would entail longer bus rides and transportation costs projected by school officials to exceed $300,000.

Angelo Kidd, the regional superintendent whose area includes Oak Ridge, confirmed the committee is considering Oak Ridge Military Academy as a possible site as well.

“Right now, a lot more has to happen before we can consider it a serious possible site,” Kidd said.

Kidd and others inspected the academy’s campus last week. It is not clear how much renting space at the private academy would cost.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com

Yoda

July 16, 2009 - 7:22 pm EDT

How many been sick at this school, and is the cases documented? I don't know, but seem to me if there are a lot of people getting sick with the same symptom's then something must be wrong. I hope they find it.

theroadrunner

July 16, 2009 - 11:20 pm EDT

Expect this to drag out until well into the school year.

brian444

July 17, 2009 - 12:46 am EDT

People get sick at every school. This is run-of-the-mill hysteria: people are convinced there's a cause of illness, and so they blame illness on the imagined cause. And they invent illness: the sniffles you'd normally ignore become more evidence of the moldy epidemic. No amount of science will persuade them otherwise.

ccook

July 17, 2009 - 8:24 am EDT

My little brother attended OR Elementary in the late '80's/early '90's. At that time, he became diagnosed with "breather air disease" by his doctor. He played little league, and would pass out playing, because of this condition. After he left OR Elementary - it went away. We never could explain it.

Another issue that seems to be ignored - the drinking water. During the 1980's and early 1990's, the gas station across the street began leaking gas into the water table. They were eventually dug up. Some of the houses across the street from the school had to (and to this day) depend on water sources from a government subsidy program, because the water is so tainted (or tainted enough). It is also my understanding that several male kids got testicular cancer in high school, right after attending OR Elementary (one was my friend). There may not be a correlation, or enough for one, but there could be a link to the water.

gollyga

July 17, 2009 - 12:38 pm EDT

My son is in the 8th grade now but attended Oak Ridge in the old building, and the new. He was sick the whole time he attended Oak Ridge. He had cronic cough and breathing problems. I also voluntered at the school and would spend the entire day there. By the end of the day I would have a severe headache, cough,and congestion. My son was given 3 types of medications, and averaged 2 times a year at the doctor for breathing treatments. During the summer he was always fine, but one week after he would start back to school he would start to get sick. He is now attending Northwest Middle, and we took him off all medication in 6th grade and he has not been sick one time or had coughing or breathing issues. Some prople don't want to belieive that there's something wrong at this school, but there is something that is making the students sick. I also want to comment about how they have not seen anything, that it is one of the cleanest, well maintained schools they have seen, the school has been cleaned numerious time in the resent months because of this issue, so I'm sure that clean is the only way they would find it. This does not mean that there is not something there causing all the illness!

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