This year’s unusually long and wet winter weather has left one area school cleaning up a mess.
Community members have been making comments on The Examiner’s Web site, www.examiner.net, for the last few days about a potential mold problem at Christian Ott Elementary in the Independence School District. The water damage is primarily in the fifth grade hallway and some classrooms.
“There is mold on the walls, and it is flying through the air at this school,” said one blogger on the Examiner Web site.
But mold apparently has not been found at this point.
Nancy Lewis, public relations director with the Independence School District, confirmed that leakage from the school’s roof has caused some damage. This is mainly because, she said, of the long winter season.
“Roofers have already been hired and are starting work on the issue,” she said. “There was some leakage in the classroom, including something leaking down the wall.”
Lewis said Children’s Mercy Hospital is conducting tests to determine the level of damage to the wall and to verify if there is mold growing in some areas of the building.
Coincidentally, roof replacement was not among the projects to be completed at Christian Ott in the bond issue that was approved by voters in November 2009.
