Following reports of mold-like substances, several classes were relocated from the portables to the main building in the first week of school. During this time, mold tests were conducted inside the classrooms but these tests came back negative, confirming there was no mold in the portables.
“When we came back in the fall, people noticed the moisture and some people were feeling like the air quality wasn’t great,” said an anonymous teacher based in the portables. The teacher said their colleagues reported the complaints to the administration who took action quickly and effectively.
“[The school] ordered a mold test by an outside party and allowed any teacher who felt uncomfortable teaching out of there to relocate to empty classrooms in the building,” said Principal Brown in an interview.
The mold test, which was performed in every classroom in the portables, came back negative. “I felt a lot more confident after, even though I wasn’t having symptoms, having the testing done made me feel a lot better,” said the anonymous teacher.
The teacher also emphasized satisfaction with how the administration responded, saying, “The administration has shown that they want to fix the problem.”
However, this satisfaction was not echoed amongst the student body.
Sophomore Lily Phelan has a mold allergy and has AP Spanish in the portables. She feels the school should have been more transparent with the student body so that students, such as herself, who may be more severely affected by any potential mold could take the necessary actions to keep themselves safe and healthy.
“I definitely think they should have kind of come out with an email or something or like an announcement on Canvas that there was potentially mold in the portables and it would be taken care of,” Phelan said.
Phelan’s AP Spanish class was temporarily relocated to a classroom on the fourth floor and returned to the portables on September 9th following the negative mold test results. Despite this, she says “I definitely think they should still have let us know what was going on.”
While most students in Jackson Reed have heard some rumors about black mold in the portables, there has been no verifiable and accurate communication between the administration and the student body on the situation. While it appears the administration had been doing a good job communicating with teachers affected by the situation, one teacher seems to have been forgotten.
Substitute teacher Mrs. White has been teaching primarily in the portables since the beginning of the school year. However, she was unaware of any mold situation, and hadn’t been informed by the administration or her colleagues about the potential health risk. “Nobody said anything to me, not even the teachers in the portables.” Said White.
However, White added that she hasn’t seen or smelled any mold in her classroom and had been feeling fine.
While the Beacon was interviewing White, Head Foreman Demetrius Denson came by her classroom to set up a dehumidifier. This dehumidifier sucks moisture from the air and is one of the many precautions being taken by the administration to prevent future mold scares.
Denson says that there are several reasons mold may have been falsely reported inside the buildings. The musty smell was most likely caused by a buildup of moisture due to standing rainwater beneath the buildings. This water is able to build up due to the uneven ground of the parking lot where the portables sit. Denson said the substance that staff members perceived to be mold was actually dust that had accumulated on the wall and had dyed the tile black. Denson also emphasized the strength of the ventilation system, saying, “the ventilation system is built a little different so it has insulation that grabs particles instead of pushing them out, it’s not like the AC inside your home.” He added, “nothing can seep from inside the vent, it can only come in and come out.”
He added that HEPA filters, the large white boxes in every portable classroom, help create some kind of ventilation. The filters, which were put in during COVID, capture tiny airborne particles such as mold, dust, and bacteria, removing 99.7% of such particles from the air.
When asked whether students and staff should feel safe inside the portables, Denson said, “We’ve covered everything.” He emphasized “We bring in the necessary people to diagnose things so, I mean, just let us do our part so that we can make sure that everybody is safe and secure.” •