Yesterday a crowd of Renaissance School students gathered at a middle school track meet let out a roaring victory cheer - not because of the meet but because they'd just been told they'd get another day off from school.
They're the only ones who are happy. Parents are fuming after discovering that airborne asbestos levels found at Renaissance school last week were six times higher than allowable, and school administrators are squirming.
At a meeting yesterday, astonished parents were told contamination level in the building had reached a shocking 460 structures- compared to allowable limit of 70, and the BOE has not had any environmental safety procedures in place for the rented Renaissance School (belonging to the Immaculate Conception Parish) since its inception 10 years ago. No testing was ever done to see if children and staff were exposed to harmful substances during various construction projects.
Montclair school board super Frank Alvarez told parents yesterday that the school was safe to go back to, but agreed to close school for another day when parents demanded further checks and locker cleanups. But some parents say they're not sure they'll ever send their kids back to the building. And if that sentiment continues, where will the school put the students who attend school there?
Meanwhile, fingers are pointing everywhere.
The Renaissance Health and Wellness Committee and PTA told Alvarez in a May 17 letter:
We are aware that when EPA representatives investigated Madonna Hall (on 3/27), multiple failures to meet federal regulations related to the Toxic Substances Control Act were cited on the AHERA Inspection Summary of Observations. Rather than address these failures and insist that the Newark Diocese (The Landlord) bring the construction site into federal compliance, the BOE authorized a second renovation while during school hours. It is unconscionable that work was approved, again without following the mandated federal regulations, for a second time.Surely common sense would indicate that in buildings the age of Madonna Hall and the main school building that asbestos and lead would likely be present; as has been proven by air quality tests taken after the fact.
The lack of foresight, commonsense, and poor judgment about the safety and health of the Renaissance students (and faculty/staff) during construction and the inadequate response to queries poses serious questions about the confidence we can have in the officials charged with our children's wellbeing during the school day. We ask that the Montclair Board of Education take immediate action to gain compliance with all in-door quality, construction, and building management regulations as concerns the safety of our children before they are permitted back into the building and provide assurances to us that these matters will not be repeated whatever that takes in working with the Newark Diocese going forward.
We insist that the students (and suggest that faculty, staff and parents) do not reenter the Munn Street facility until after we are in receipt of the federally mandated safety clearance report on air quality, demonstrating a N/D (none detected level), performed by Detail Associates, an independent, certified asbestos remediator.
Renaissance parent Mary Ann Cucci told Baristanet in an e-mail, "The work was started in the school on Monday but the testing was not done until Thursday May 15 and the children not removed until noon on Friday May 16th."
Although Asbestosgate started after the installation of fire doors last week, three other construction projects took place at the school this year. Parents are particularly concerned about Madonna Hall, the student lunchroom, because construction has been going on there since fall 2006, but was being used as the student lunchroom until this March. New windows were installed earlier this year; parents say students have complained about dust, dirt, and poor ventilation in the century-old building.
One parent told Baristanet "The situation is surreal. Nothing has been properly cleaned. No one seemed to know about the [enviromental safety] guidelines that are mandated. There should have been testing before, during, and after the construction. Nothing was done. They need to get rid of everything."
Today, most of Renaissance staff and teachers were in the building, despite the school's closing, they were required to show up until 1pm. Dr. Cobb is not at the school today; he is attending his son's college graduation. A PTA meeting is scheduled for 7pm tomorrow (Wednesday), place to be determined.
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Are there any medical tests that can detect exposure to asbestos? Do the parents and kids just have to 'wait and see'. It can take many years for the effects of asbestos exposure to manifest symptomatically.
Good grief, what a nightmare.