DEEP RIVER, Conn. — A mold problem in a Connecticut school has displaced students and teachers for months.
Weeks after mold was suspected inside John Winthrop Middle School, which brings in students from Deep River, Chester and Essex, Regional School District No. 4 now has some answers.
"We do in fact have a pretty pervasive mold issue in our middle school," said Superintendent Brian White.
Air and surface tests found mold in several areas around the school including bathrooms, classrooms and hallways and the problem is going to take months to fix.
"We do have some pretty good initial thinking around our HVAC system which is most likely a contributing factor if not a significant contributing factor. We found that there were very high levels of humidity in the school which were creating the conditions for mold to occur," White said.
The wet weather this year has made it easy for problems like this one to occur, according to experts. This school is not the only one in Connecticut to have mold since this school year began.
"Water will find a way in. And we’ve just had so much rain this year that it will find its way into places that you wouldn’t have seen it before," said Laura Champagne of Natural Home Solutions, which provides mold testing and cleanup services.
Champagne says the issue can be much more than surface level.
"Especially when the humidity rises it just makes the perfect thing and you don’t see it from the outside. People a lot of times want to clean just what they see on the outside," Champagne said. "It’s not the black stuff that’s on the surface that’s a problem for you it’s stuff that goes up in the air," she said.
Mold on surfaces and in the air can have health impacts.
"It can aggravate things like allergies, asthma," Champagne said.
Middle school students and teachers in Deep River have been at the high school since the problem was discovered in early September and that has them facing other challenges.
"What we’re finding is that having two schools in that building simultaneously has resulted in space constraints," White said. "Right now there is some stress having both schools there knowing that it’s going to be for a longer period of time and so we’re working to make the situation much more tenable."
Gaby Molina is a reporter and anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at mmolina@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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