Air Quality Tests at Bayville, Potter Schools Show No Mold Issues

Air quality testing conducted at Bayville School and H&M Potter Elementary School on Wednesday showed no safety issues, Berkeley Township Schools Superintendent James Roselli said Thursday afternoon.

Roselli said he, school board president Steven Pellecchia and Patrick Sullivan, head of buildings and grounds, walked with Karl & Associates of Mohnton, Pa., as it conducted the testing. Bayville School was tested first, Roselli said, and then Potter was checked, and both schools were given a clean billing.

"They said there was neither sight nor smell of mold, and the air quality was safe for students and staff," Roselli said.

Mold was discovered on hard surfaces at Berkeley Township Elementary School and Clara B. Worth Elementary School the week of Aug. 20, according to a letter that was sent home with students after their first day of school Thursday. 

At a parent information meeting on Tuesday night, Roselli said the mold was found in the first floor instructional wings at BTES and in two kindergarten classrooms at CBW. He also confirmed, after repeated questions from a mother whose sons are severely asthmatic, that testing had not been done at Bayville or Potter. But he promised concerned parents testing would be done before school opened Thursday.

Karl & Associates said it will provide detailed results on the tests in the coming weeks, Roselli said, but said the bottom line, to him, is that the air is safe.

"If you have an individual sensitivity to mold or other things, the levels inside the building are better than they are outside," he said, reiterating the response of the district's consulting doctor, Dr. Norman Santo Domingo, to the report on BTES and CBW that Roselli relayed to parents on Tuesday night.

Inthe letter to parents that went home Thursday, Roselli said "will remain diligent" in ensuring a safe environment for students and staff.