TVDSB to provide Ekcoe Central mould update on Monday

The Thames Valley District School Board will be providing parents and the media an update on the mould problem at Eckoe Central Public School on Monday.

Students will continue to attend classes in temporary accommodations at Glencoe District High School until at least the beginning of next week.

Renovations at Ekcoe Central will continue.

According to a news release, once the work is finished, TVDSB officials will give teachers time to prepare their classrooms for students.

A school board public relations official released a list of work that has been done by staff and contractors to rid the facility of mould.

• Hard surface items and non-porous contents have been cleaned in accordance with approved health and safety standards and will be returned back to the rooms. Porous contents have been packaged and removed from the site for disposal. For example, all tack boards were removed and new tack boards reinstalled. All chalk boards were removed, cleaned and returned. All desks and hard surface chairs will be cleaned and returned for use while all fabric, upholstered items and carpets have been removed.

• All ceiling tiles throughout the entire building have been removed and will be replaced with new tile.

• Detailed cleaning of all spaces, including underside of steel roof, light fixtures, fire and life safety devices, projectors and white boards.

• A large portion of the ventilation ducts have been removed. All remaining duct work has been professionally cleaned. The ventilation system has been redesigned by the Board’s Mechanical Engineering Consultant to ensure fresh air to all areas of the building.

• All lower cabinets containing classroom sinks have been removed and replaced with the exception of the newly renovated Kindergarten classroom.

• The Board’s occupational health and safety consultants Pinchin Environmental and OH Solutions have been jointly overseeing the project. Upon thorough cleaning of each room, both consultants inspected each room on an individual basis and air sampling was conducted. Additional consultants’ reports may be viewed in the school office as they are available.

• Air samples were collected on September 11, 2016 in rooms where remediation has been completed and “all results were favorable for reoccupancy,” according to the latest report by OH Solutions.