news-record.com

"held their tongues to be good neighbors"? Translation, please? What, precisely, were they refraining from saying? What were the perceived imperatives in being "neighborly"?

I'm sure that for many, attending a different school is less convenient and requires additional travel and planning. But which is more important - convenience or your child's health? After all the stories in the news, I would want an "all clear" before subjecting my child to what has been a suspected unhealthy environment for seven hours a day.

As a mother of 3, I can not fathom how a parent would want to send their child/children back to ORE without the proper signoffs and approvals. I have had two children go through ORE and one there now. Once my middle child left the school, all of the symptoms went away and have not returned. My child that is there now has not had any of the symptoms that were present and we fought all year long last year. For the safety of my child, and others, I do not want my child back in the building until I know the professionals have given the ok that it is safe. Apparently the parents who are wanting to go back have not experienced the illnesses and symptoms, but that does not mean they do not exist. I am sure if they had, then their opinions would be different. I would also be concerned of any possible long term affects. Sure, being away from ORE is an inconvenience, but isn't the health of our children worth an inconvenience to the PARENTS?

As of a father with 3 kids at ORE, all parents are concerned with safety and health of their kids. Neither the Guilford County Health Dept nor NIOSH's initial findings could either find anything wrong with the school. Yes, they did find some mold growing under the carpet in a few classrooms, but I'm sure every school in Guilford County has mold somewhere in the buildings. ORE last year had the 2nd highest attendance in the county. So for people to say that the school was causing their kids to get sick, the attendance record did not show that many kids out. There were only around 30 to 40 kids that were actually complaining of some type of illness. The parents of these kids are the ones that got the county to close the school, not NIOSH or Guilford County Health Dept. The threat of litigation was the main reason for the closing. I think the petition is a great idea, because someone needs to get NIOSH and the Guilford County School Board motivated. NIOSH did the testing back in July and it should not take 4 months to get results.

Are you kidding me??? After months of screaming for the school system to do something, now they are doing it, and the response is "OK that's enough, your done, let us back in"???? I bet these are the same poeple that will be first in line to sue the disctrict if the findings determine there was unsafe air in the building. What administrator would send kids back in there before the work is done and the tests are back in? And what type of parents would ask for that???!!! This is unbelievable!

It is more than just 'inconvenient' for my 2nd grader to be in a basement classroom at ORMA, with no windows, for almost 7 hours a day. They have no computer classes, no library to check books out from, and no playground to play on. And, on top of all that, their classroom is located directly across the hall from high school aged military school cadets - they have to share bathroom facilities with these older kids. Oh, and there evidently was some kind of small fire set in the gym facilities at ORMA the other day? Does this really sound like a better environment for my child than our own school that's only 5 years old?
As dawson333 said, there were a handful of families that did the 'screaming for the school system to do something'. The rest of us wanted due diligence to be done, in case there was a problem. But now, they've found no 'smoking gun', it appears little or no work seems to be happening at our school, and we're being told there seems to be no return in sight. All we're asking for is that any remaining work be expedited, and if nothing else is found, let's get our kids back in our school.

Wanting to get back to ORE is not a matter of being inconvenienced. It's a matter of believing that the school is safe for our students! There is nothing to indicate otherwise.

If I believed the school was making children sick, I wouldn't mind the inconvenience, but I don't believe it. I believe the headaches might have been exacerbated by poor air ciculation which is common in new construction and can be handled by simply cracking a window or door. Bloody noses -- dry air -- remember they ran dehumidifiers in the school last year. My son, who is prone to nosebleeds has had more nosebleeds in the past 10 days than he had all last year at ORE, but I'm not complaining that they need to close down the mobile units at NWMS. I would also guess that the basement rooms at ORMA have less air circulation and more mold than any room at ORE.

Our school is one of the cleanest, saftest schools in the county. We are draining resources that are needed by other schools in the county that have real problems and are in no where near the wonderful condition that our school is in.

I am outraged and appalled by the lack of empathy and the naivety of parents wanting to expedite this process. Have you not read the environmental reports from 2005-2009 that show extremely high levels of aspergillius, penecillium, and other toxic molds? Have you researched these molds yourself? Are you aware of the health problems they cause? I thought Oak Ridge parents were a little smarter. The number of students affected are in the hundreds, and at least half of the faculty were affected. People still have ongoing problems associated with this. This is a very real problem. The smoking gun has actually been found. Have you read the file of information containing all the emails that date back to 2005 where school officials make mention of the mold problem but decide to put children in there regardless, even knowing the risks? And you'r ok with this, and want your children back in there? You are very misinformed and naive. Educate yourself about the facts that are in front of you and stop being so ridiculous. Your child has a computer at home, and books they can read, and areas to run and play. You are inconvenienced and nothing more. NIOSH is conducting a THOROUGH investigation. Our children and teachers deserve nothing less.