Saco school closed after mold found

SACO – The 50-year-old Young School has become the latest school in Maine to be permanently closed because of mold.

The Board of Education voted unanimously to authorize the superintendent to start the process of replacing the elementary school and lining up modular classrooms for September.

“It’s bittersweet,” Julie Campisi, Young School PTO president, said after the board’s meeting Tuesday. “It’s definitely what we wanted and what kids and staff need.”

Young School closed four months ago when several staff members reported feeling ill after detecting a strange odor. Pupils were moved to portable classrooms.

After months of testing, it was revealed March 11 that mold and moisture had permeated much of the building, under floors and in ceilings and walls. Sewer gases were detected from a catch basin that was drawing them into the school’s ventilation system.

Turner Building Sciences estimated the cost of fixing and monitoring the school at more than $2 million.

Superintendent Elaine Tomaszewski told the board Tuesday that if it chose to renovate, “we’d still have a 1950s building” and overcrowding would remain a problem.

The cost of a new school was pegged at $8 million and residents would have to approve a bond before the project moved forward.

Kent Webster, interim school business manager, said it was doubtful that a new school would open before 2010.

The school board unanimously approved authorizing the superintendent to find a modular facility to replace Young before a permanent building is completed.

In Portland, Jack Elementary School was permanently closed in 2001 because of mold, forcing school officials to line up alternate space for its 300 pupils. Hall-Dale Elementary School in Farmingdale also fell victim to mold.

Mold, which has emerged as a growing problem in Maine and across the region, can aggravate asthma and cause other health problems. A mold outbreak last fall delayed the opening of school for thousands of youngsters across New England, forcing officials to spend thousands of dollars scrubbing their classrooms.

Scientists blamed a soggy and steamy July and August for creating conditions ideal for fungi across the Northeast.

In West Bath, the elementary school spent about $55,000 and had to rip out nearly all of its carpeting to correct its mold problem.