WINDSOR, Conn — The typical back-to-school jitters are more like back-to-school nerves in Windsor, as parents are concerned about mold in Oliver Ellsworth Elementary School.
“It was heartbreaking bringing him to school in that condition,” said parent, Alex Mendoza, whose son is entering the first grade.
Pictures are circulating in Windsor of mold on desks, chairs, ceilings, objects and surfaces.
“It’s disgusting, it’s absolutely disgusting. I’ve seen things where I get if it’s a playground ball outside, but there’s no way a kid's chair or desk or ceilings should have black mold like that,” said Mendoza.
Preschool through second-grade students returned for their second day of school on Tuesday. What is normally an exciting time is clouded by a nightmare for parents.
“He was sick 16 days throughout the year, random sickness, cough, it would just be him it’s not like he caught it from anyone else,” said Mendoza.
Now Mendoza, like many other parents, is calling on the town for answers and solutions.
“A short-term solution is to get in there with de-humidification and COVID-like scrubbing of the rooms,” said Don Trinks, the Mayor of Windsor.
Trinks said he’s working with school officials to make sure the classrooms are safe for staff and the young students.
“Every person on the council, Republican, Democrat, town council, we don’t care. We have to work together to get this fixed,” said Trinks.
The district said third-party testing was done and the results are within legal parameters. But results of an air quality test are still pending and will be for a few weeks.
“We have to get in there and have a bassline testing done. There’s something that’s drawing in that ultra-humid air,” said Trinks.
The Board of Education is holding a meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m. but no parents or staff members are able to ask questions. The district is holding another meeting Wednesday night where questions can be asked and answered.
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