A Growing Problem

When Milton Elementary teachers returned from summer vacation this year, they found an unwelcome intruder in their classrooms—climbing the walls, hiding above ceiling tiles, and eating through wood panels. It was mold. White, black, fuzzy, sometimes even orange.

“We called it ‘Black Friday,’ because we had 15 minutes to run into school and grab anything personal,” says librarian Karen Vallancourt, Milton Education and Support Association (MESA) president. After a wet summer and years of deferred maintenance (instead of fixing leaks, the district painted moldy ceiling tiles), the air quality had sunk to hazardous levels in the Vermont school. Within days, workers in what Vallancourt calls “Stay Puft Marshmallow suits” were on the scene.

Since then, the cleanup has grown to a $3.5 million-plus renovation, requiring a hike in property taxes. Although some classrooms were fixed by December, allowing teachers to return from temporary shelters in churches and factories, the work won’t be finished until August. In the meantime, Vermont-NEA responded with a generous equipment drive, and MESA continues to accept cash donations to help teachers replace materials. (For more information, e-mail David Boulanger at dboulanger@vtnea.org.)

Vallancourt urges her colleagues to check their own schools. “Look around your schools and make sure this doesn’t happen,” she says. “What’s under those ceiling tiles?”