Indoor Air Quality at Burlington High School

Rebecca Smith, President, BEA

April 1, 2008

As president of the Burlington Education Association, I appreciate the opportunity to once again address the Board about a matter of increasing concern to the educators and administrators in the Burlington school district.

I am here tonight to ask the Board what, if anything, has been done to further study or address the poor air quality afflicting several classrooms in the high school. Since the last meeting, press reports indicate other non-district officials have expressed their concerns about the problem; indeed, the Burlington Health Department on March 12 unanimously decided to investigate the issue, inviting school officials and BEA members to explain to them what steps the district has taken to completely research and assess the lingering effects of poor indoor air quality on teachers, students and staff. 

The same day, a statement was posted on the school district webpage which stated that “No air quality health concerns have been found to exist in the findings of the tests conducted this year by ATC Associates… Although two teachers currently have rashes, the air quality test reports by ATC have been unable to indicate any definitive link to air quality.”  The BEA finds this statement to be misleading.  Representatives from the BEA met to review ATC testing results with ATC Associates and Superintendent Collins on February 21, 2008.  The test results clearly showed elevated levels of two different types of fungus in the rooms where the two aforementioned teachers work.  The BEA has yet to hear the answer to our question posed a month ago:  What standard will be used to measure air quality in our schools?  Without identifying a standard, the district is able to claim test results are not definitive.  “Definitive” results would require definitive standards with which to measure the health of our environment. 

The BEA would like to remind the board that we appreciate the actions taken to address these issues to date, and also that these actions came in reaction to BEA pressure and complaints.  Last month, we asked the board to begin to show leadership and take a proactive role in solving this problem.  The district has since developed an indoor air quality committee in conjunction with the Department of Health.  We acknowledge and appreciate this effort.  When the committee meets next Thursday, the BEA hopes that committee recommendations will be used to respond to the indoor air quality issues at the high school facility, and that the partnership provides some real transparency and clarity around which standards are being used to ensure the health of the school environment.

As I participate in the district’s Equity and Excellence planning process, I continue to hear teachers and administrators place emphasis on prioritizing facilities upgrades and maintenance at several of our deteriorating buildings.  Health and safety concerns extend far beyond the high school, and are holding a significant place in the minds of school district employees as we proceed forwards with the facilities audit.

When I addressed the board a month ago, I implored you to consider the costs of inaction on this issue.  These costs are not monetary.  They are far more concerning, which is why the BEA will continue to ask the board to answer our questions, respond to our requests for proactive leadership, and to respect our sincere desire to eradicate this health issue from our schools.

Thank you.

Statement of Burlington Education Association on Indoor Air Quality at Burlington High School

March 11, 2008

Rebecca Smith, President, BEA

For about five years, the Burlington Education Association has made the Burlington School Board and the administrators of the Burlington School District aware of a decline in the indoor air quality in parts of the High School campus. To date, the BEA has documented more than a half-dozen cases of unexplained illnesses and rashes among the high school faculty.

You are no doubt aware of these cases, as at least two of them are involved in a formal arbitration process between the Association and the district. You also should be aware of the others, which include faculty members who contract rashes during the school year that seem to dissipate or disappear during the summer months.

The details of these cases are not as important as the overall impression that school administrators are not taking these outbreaks seriously.

We certainly appreciate what school administrators have done in recent months: the school will no longer turn off its ventilation system during the winter months; filters will be replaced more frequently; and the district has said it will repair broken dampers.

However, those small measures – taken only after months of complaints from the Association and afflicted teachers – are not enough to ensure that the air breathed by the faculty, administrators, students and visitors to Burlington High School is clean and healthy.

Much more remains to be done. Your own subcommittee on indoor air quality has worked on this issue for some time; yet, despite years of study, the administration and board continue to express their sympathy, but still insist that current and past outbreaks afflicting teachers has no connection to air quality within certain buildings of the high school.

Indeed, Board Member Fred Lane earlier this year told the press, “I think it’s fair to say that we’re doing everything we can to figure out what’s going on, and to give the teachers whatever assistance we can.”

With all due respect, the assistance has been minimal, at best.

This issue is larger than the teachers whose health has been compromised. In a public building occupied by more than 1,500 people a day, stale, potentially toxic air is a hazard to public safety.

What we must realize is that while the problems associated with poor indoor air quality may now only be afflicting a small number of people in the Burlington High School community, it is probably only a matter of time before more teachers, administrators, visitors and students become ill.

The high school is like any other structure – as it ages, it needs constant maintenance to ensure its integrity. Examples of deferred maintenance are all around us every day. Our city’s and state’s roads, for example, are becoming harder to navigate, as years of delayed repairs are now coming home to roost. Not only are the roads in worsening shape, the cost to restore them is growing almost beyond our ability to pay for it.

So, too, with the high school. It is an old building, and, over the years, routine maintenance of the school’s ventilation system has been deferred. As with roads, that system is in increasingly poor shape, and the cost to make it work properly continues to grow.

As you are aware, tests you have conducted show elevated levels of carbon dioxide and other irritants – tests that were followed by no action to pinpoint, much less alleviate, the problem.

This building is old, and the deteriorated  air quality in it is clearly a problem. If it is a matter of the board’s desire to save money by deferring maintenance or replacing a faulty ventilation system, we would suggest that it is a temporary and false savings that puts students and teachers at risk.

How long will the board tolerate unhealthy air in Burlington High School? Do we wait as long as the state government did with the Bennington State Office Building, where pleas to address poor air quality ultimately led to serious illnesses and the shuttering of the building?

As the president of the association representing the teachers and other educators who work in that building every day, I implore you to take this issue seriously, before it begins to afflict more teachers.

The time for forced half-steps is over. The time for delay is over. It’s time for this board to become proactive in finding a solution to the unacceptable air quality within the Burlington High School.

We –you – cannot wait until it begins to affect our students. Please begin addressing this serious issue today.