Spencer school set to close due to air quality issues

SPENCER, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Parents in Spencer are outraged after learning school officials knew of air quality issues at a local school for more than a year before publicly revealing it.

School committee members discussed the January 2014 investigation by state environmental health officials at a meeting Tuesday night, where they voted to close the Lake Street School at the end of this school year.

“I was devastated,” said parent Jonathan Stone after learning of the report. “I think they should have told us and at least let the parents know that there was an issue.”

The report details high levels of carbon dioxide, water damage to ceilings and floors, oil exhaust fumes from the school furnace leaking into classrooms, and ventilation systems that were either defunct or obstructed in classrooms.

“I'm afraid it's gonna get worse, or that there's a deeper issue that we don't know yet,” Stone said.

Stone's 6-year-old daughter Brianna is a first grader at Lake Street, which has about 300 students that are pre-kindergarten through second grade, and about 70 staff members.

Brianna already suffers from asthma, and frequently uses a nebulizer, and Stone wondered if the school's air quality issues had impacted her condition.

In Tuesday's meeting, a school board member called the air quality issues “serious” and noted that some staff had to go on disability because of the conditions inside.

Stone said he planned to keep Brianna home from school under district officials provided parents with more information.

“I just want to know if it's safe for my daughter to be in school,” Stone said. “I called the Superintendent's office twice and they said they would call me back…I got no answers at all, they just give me the run around.”

Superintendent N. Tracy Crowe declined an interview and said she had no knowledge of Stone's calls.

In a statement, the school board chairman told FOX25, “Proper testing and investigations were completed at Lake Street School. At no time was the building classified as unsafe. We are continuing to work through an action plan.”

Other district officials maintain the school is safe for children, and that state health officials have never suggested they shutter the school.

One school board member told FOX25 the vote to close the school was based mostly on financial reasons, in a district that has already struggled with balancing the budget.

You can read the state report here.

Cox Media Group