Pleasant Valley: Mold cleanup could cost $1.2 million

Mold removal at Pleasant Valley Intermediate School is expected to take 14 to 21 days and the cost could be up to $1.2 million for the remediation. The building remains closed while the cleanup takes place.

The school board has approved up to $1.2 million for the cost of the remediation. The district has contacted its insurance carrier but Superintendent David Piperato expects only a minor reimbursement if any from insurance.

Mold was also found in small areas of the high school and the elementary school.

Belfor Property Restorations has been on site since the problem was discovered last week and work is moving ahead at a furious pace to get the school cleaned and reopened for classes.

“Inspections showed that it is surface mold only,” Piperato said Wednesday morning. “They are wiping down every surface, horizontal and vertical. Every item in every room is also being wiped. That includes books, everything.”

Piperato said anything that cannot be adequately wiped and cleaned will be sealed into a plastic bag and left for the owner to remove from the building. Staff has been instructed that anything that is bagged must be removed from the building before it can be opened and may not at any time be returned to school property.

Late Wednesday the district released another statement adding air quality testing to the process.

“The PVSD administration and PVEA/PVESPA leadership met with representatives from Belfor Property Restoration and Hillman Consulting LLC today to receive an update on the mold remediation process.

“During that meeting, the representatives from both companies assured us that the district followed proper protocol upon learning of mold in our buildings, was proactive in our handling of the issue, discovered the problem early, and continues to maintain exceptionally clean buildings. As a result, we have been able to successfully identify and remediate the mold issues as they were discovered.”

Hillman said that visual inspection is the best method for detecting a mold issue, however, the district has agreed to conduct air quality sampling in all of the school buildings.

Piperato said the district was planning on following whatever advice it received from the experts. He also stressed that in the future visual inspections will be crucial.

“Part of the process involves visual inspection on a regular basis,” he said. “Teachers and staff will be asked to report anything they see.”

“After getting involved, Belfor is saying that we are probably looking at getting the school back sooner rather than later,” Piperato said.

PVI students are sharing Pleasant Valley Elementary school, with the two schools operating on a two-day rotation. Intermediate students start back to school today. Piperato does not anticipate any impact on the bus schedule because the only difference is where the children will be dropped off and picked up.

On Wednesday, PVI Principal Todd Breiner posted a letter on the school’s webpage going into more detail regarding the start of the school year for intermediate students.

The letter details changes regarding parent drop-off/pick-up procedures that will be in place while PVI students occupy PVE. Any parents who will be providing their child’s transportation should review the procedures online.

Attached to the letter is a more detailed schedule for the students and a breakdown of the days by cycle.

Decisions on after-school programing has not been released at this time.

The district has not yet announced how missed school days will be addressed. Piperato said that it is too early to determine how that will be handled.

“We haven’t had a lot of complaints, mostly concerns with the mold and some with child care on days the children are off due to the rotation schedule,” Piperato said.