BIDDEFORD — School Committee members who recently voted in favor of air quality tests for Biddeford High School defended their decision Tuesday during a press conference at the Wonderbar Restaurant.
Biddeford High School is undergoing a $34 million renovation and since the work began last year, some have blamed poor air quality for causing a number of symptoms ”“ including headaches, nosebleeds, nausea and respiratory problems ”“ for students and staff.
According to previous statements from Environmental Code Officer Brian Phinney, air testing at the high school hasn’t detected any serious problems that would cause health concerns in the general student population.
Last week, the School Committee approved a $39,000 air quality study by Turner Building Science & Design, LLC, in a 4-2 vote, in the latest attempt to address any possible problems.
In a recent letter to the editor to the Journal Tribune, Mayor Joanne Twomey stated “a small group has focused on proving individuals wrong and have rejected all data that doesn’t support their predetermined outcome; on the other hand the school department has only focused on addressing the underlying problems based on available data. To spend any amount of money wastefully in a time when our budgets are under the most stringent review is absolutely unacceptable.”
School Committee member Laura Seaver said at the press conference Tuesday the cost for the analysis of the indoor air quality is slightly more than one-tenth of 1 percent of the total renovation project.
“It’s a drop in the hat,” she said. “If we can’t find $39,000 in a $34 million budget, then we have bigger problems than air quality.”
Seaver also said Phinney does not have the time or resources to address air quality issues in the school properly.
She said she believes that Ledgewood, the company renovating the high school, should agree to funding to address any reported air quality issues. However, if they don’t, the school budget has a projected carryover of $600,000, she said. Also, the school department has more than $220,000 sitting in a Cultural Enrichment Fund it could use, or the school department could defer the purchase of new furniture for the high school, she said.
“If the city is spending $34 million to renovate its high school, then we should expect a building that will not make our students sick,” said Seaver.
Twomey stated in the letter that the board has not identified any specific questions it wants answered. This was poor judgment on the School Committee’s part, she said, and “this indicates to me that they either don’t understand the issues or don’t want to ask questions because if they get the answers they will have to live with them.”
School Committee member Tony Michaud said the mayor and Phinney have not been able to give the committee any specifics as far as what the potential problem is.
“We can’t narrow it, because we don’t know what we’re looking for,” he said. “That’s why it’s so broad.”
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.
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