Superintendent introduces district-wide initiative to support healthy indoor air quality, All Risks representative addresses Holly Glen progress at BOE
In addition, 2017–2018 Teachers of the Year were recognized at the recent board meeting, an anti-bullying presentation was made and Holly Glen Elementary School parents voiced their relocation opinions.
By Krista Cerminaro
The Board of Education commenced the April 5 meeting by acknowledging six Monroe Township Public Schools teachers with 2017–2018 Teacher of the Year awards.
Honorees included Williamstown High School’s Rocco Canonica, Williamstown Middle School’s Karyn Park, Holly Glen Elementary School’s Diana Voci, Oak Knoll Elementary School’s Michele Kreuzer, Radix Elementary School’s Sandra Fiorentino and Whitehall Elementary School’s Julia Gaetano.
WMS eighth grader Rileigh Leighton was also recognized as a 2018 State Honoree of the Prudential Spirit of Community Award. Leighton is the founder and CEO of Rileigh’s Rainbows, a nonprofit organization she started to provide free school supplies to students in need in her school district.
At the meeting, Monroe Township’s Anti-Bullying Coordinator Dina Deveny and other district representatives gave a presentation on the Monroe Township school safety overview for 2018. The presentation outlined the district’s timeline for reporting bullying incidents, explained the difference between conflicts and HIB — harassment, intimidation and bullying — and outlined measures the district has taken to prevent such events from occurring, including committee and staff trainings, school kick-off events and parent involvement.
Superintendent Charles Earling introduced a “District-Wide Initiative to Support Healthy Indoor Air Quality through Observations, Systematic Inspections and Technology.”
The eight-step initiative includes: systematic quarterly observations of below and above ceiling systems, bi-annual inspections by the Certified Industrial Hygienist of random and known areas of mold activity, installation of real-time wireless temperature and humidity sensors at locations of known mold activity, deployment of dehumidifiers to areas of concern, remote performance monitoring of district HVAC systems with corrective action as necessary, disposal and replacement of furnishings, floorcoverings and storage units that have the potential to support mold activity — such as the bookcases and carpeting in the Holly Glen library, reducing the amount of introduced humidity caused by wet extractions of carpets and other surfaces and dry clean carpets when available and maintain open lines of communication between the school, administration, local public health departments, the CIH and state health agencies.
“This is going to be done through the year — all year — by Aramark. That is our contracted service,” Earling said, noting the plan would kick in once AllRisk has completed its work.
“They’re looking to make sure that we do not have problems in the future,” board member Anthony Ayres added. “They will be very proactive in preventing anymore headaches.” A full copy of the initiative can be found on the district website, www.monroetwp.k12.nj.us.
MTPS also welcomed AllRisk representative Lou Crisci, who made a statement and answered questions about Holly Glen’s progress thus far. Crisci said AllRisk has been working under the protocol of Ramboll environmental company.
“The report that was given to us was to remove and replace the ceiling tiles,” Crisci explained. “The environmental company comes in, they do whatever testing, investigation, analysis they need in order to to make your school in a condition you can utilize again. Based on what they found, they felt as though the ceiling tiles had to come out.”
Crisci said the original scope work was estimated to take about three months.
“We’re pretty much on target — what happened was, additional work occured in the kindergarten section, required additional work. We also added in the cafeteria, the kitchen, [and] office area” Crisci said, noting the cafeteria was originally an open item, the kitchen was pending for investigation beyond the original report and the office area was not included other than spot cleaning. “We’re in the process of doing that additional work now.”
According to Crisci, roof leaks and additional work is what caused delays in the kindergarten section.
Aside from the areas of additional work, Crisci said the building has been remediated, the ceiling cavities have new tiles and the environmental company has semi-cleared it.
“Realistically, we are now getting closer to the end of the project,” Crisci said. “All in all, we really want to be out of there by the end of May.”
Crisci also noted AllRisk has no involvement with the installation of a new HVAC system. “Our scope of works are strictly to the mold,” Crisci said.
For the upcoming school year, a decision has not yet been made in terms of where Holly Glen students will relocate until they can return to their home base.
“I’ve supported placing us in Victory Christian, and the reason being is that I have three children that are going to be split up completely. That means three buses coming to my house,” said Holly Glen parent Danielle Casalunovo. “My 9-year-old daughter does not belong in a high school, missing out on one of the biggest years of her elementary school experience. I live about 15 [to] 20 minutes from Whitehall — my kindergarteners bus route could end up being 40 to 45 minutes.”
Holly Glen HSA president and parent Regina Iacovelli also voiced her support for moving students to the Victory Christian School at Open Bible church, along with her daughter who attends Holly Glen.
“To see your child truly hurt is a horrible feeling for a parent. This is not their fault, they do not deserve this. They deserve a place where they can be Holly Glen. Families need to be together, teachers need their own spaces. The Holly Glen community needs to be together. Money should not be the issue here — the comfortability of the teachers and students should be priority,” Iacovelli said. “Childhood is short. To put your nine year old in a high school shortens their little kid years even more.”
The full meeting agenda can be found at www.monroetwp.k12.nj.us.
