Regional School Unit 21 is addressing a mold issue at Kennebunk Elementary School. Kennebunk Post file photo
KENNEBUNK—Ten rooms in Kennebunk Elementary School were cleaned and remediated for mold on Wednesday and Thursday last week in response to a fourth round of mold testing done by an outside inspector, EOC Environmental. The testing and remediation is part of the school’s ongoing effort to remove a common mold type, Aspergillus/Penicillium, from its building, the presence of which was first discovered in mid-September.
The school shared the findings of testing dated Oct. 12 — the largest sweep conducted to date — with staff on Tuesday, Oct. 17, a day before cleaning and remediation began. Parents found out about the planned remediation on Friday, Oct. 20, after it had already had already taken place. A fifth round of testing was also completed last week to re-test previously remediated rooms.
Since discovering mold at KES over a month ago, the facility’s department has worked with a contractor to clean and remediate at least 20 rooms. At this point, all rooms have been tested; testing moving forward will seek to confirm the school is mold free.
The school is making progress in that direction. For example, rooms C136 and E109, which had the highest and second highest concentration of mold spores per cubic meter of any rooms tested, are now registering normal air readings.
EOC Environmental’s report from Oct. 12 found that four rooms out of 50 had “significantly higher than baseline” levels of mold in the air, with one — E11, a storage room — registering especially high levels. A visual inspection found mold in eight rooms, D117, E107, E111, E123, E125, C118, C124, and C125. Testing of two rooms, E107 and E111, revealed both mold on surfaces and mold in the air.
A room that presents visual evidence of mold will not necessarily register mold in the air, said RSU 21 Facilities Director Richard Terwilliger-Smith during the latest school board meeting, which accounts for why air readings and visual inspection may yield different findings. He added that the district aims to have the rest of the school’s in RSU 21 tested for mold, pending the availability of EOC Environmental to do the work.
The results of the Oct. 12 testing were first shared more widely in an email from Principal Ryan Quinn to KES staff on Oct. 17. The note gave a breakdown of the report and explaining the plan for remediation.
On Friday, after cleaning and remediation had taken place, Quinn sent out a message to parents via his newsletter, including the link to the report and a brief overview of the testing and the work that had been done.
When asked why the school did not notify parents about remediation ahead of time, as they did with staff, RSU 21 Communications Specialist David Singer said that “the message that was sent to staff prior to remediation was forwarded to them to ensure that they would prepare their rooms for remediation. The note to parents in Quinn’s newsletter on Friday was to update parents on the status of remediation efforts as part of our regular communication to families, which generally goes out every Friday.
The school district has struggled with mold in the past. In 2012, the middle school found and remediated mold in its building. This year’s mold issues are due to the wet summer that Maine experienced, according to Terwilliger-Smith, and KES is not the only school struggling with the aftermath all that moisture. Mold has cropped up in two schools in Cape Elizabeth, and Talbot Community School in Portland delayed the start of the school year due to mold discovered in August.
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