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Health Concerns Close Spanish Fort School

By Bill Jordan

Elementary school will be closed Monday after lead-based paint discovered during sandblasting. Teachers to be blood tested. Health Concerns Close Spanish Fort School

Published: Sat, January 05, 2008 - 10:49 pm

A spokesman for the Baldwin County Board of Education released the following information Saturday night:

"Spanish Fort Elementary School will not open Monday morning. The school will be closed to allow a company to continue to clean the campus after lead-based paint was discovered Friday afternoon.

“During Christmas break a painting contractor sandblasted an area outside of 18 classrooms. School administrators suspected that some of the paint might contain lead and asked health officials to do testing. Those samples did confirm lead in some of the deeper layers of paint,” said Baldwin County School spokesman Terry Wilhite.

Baldwin School officials immediately contacted a company certified in the safe and proper removal of lead-based paint.

“U.S. Incorporated, a Mobile-based company, arrived Saturday morning, conducted additional testing and began clean up work Saturday afternoon. The work will continue Sunday and into Monday,” Wilhite said.

Because crews won't be finished by the weekend, school officials decided to keep the school closed Monday. “Once a ‘clean bill of health’ is given by health department officials, the school will be reopened,” Wilhite said.

The paint removal and painting project was done during the holidays when students were out of class but did continue after teachers returned to the campus Wednesday for professional development.

“All of the sandblasting was done outside of the classrooms, under awnings. However, sandblasting dust did enter 18 of the classrooms through windows and around doors,” Wilhite said. The school has more than 50 classrooms.

Wilhite says environmental health and safety are always of primary importance to the Baldwin County School System and for that reason school officials are using only government-certified cleaning professionals, under the guidance of environmental authorities, and will follow the direction of state environmentalists to clean up the areas that have been affected. Those experts will certify when the campus can be reopened.

“As a precautionary measure, the school officials welcome teachers or any other employee who may have been near the construction area to have a blood test done at the school system’s expense. We want to go above and beyond in making sure this lead-based paint discovery is handled swiftly and appropriately and that all concerns are quickly put to rest,” Wilhite said.

Health experts say lead-based paint is not usually harmful unless it’s disturbed and ingested in large quantities.

The top layers of paint did not contain lead but some of the first coats (deeper layers) of paint did test positive for lead, according to the testing company.

“While students may enjoy an additional day off from school, we realize this is a great inconvenience to parents and teachers. We’ve been working non-stop to remedy this as quickly as possible. We greatly appreciate the understanding of our parents and know that they share our desire that the all-clear is given before classrooms re-open. We’re doing our very best to continue to get information out as soon as we know it,” Wilhite said.

This information is being sent out by Notify Me, the school’s mass notification system. You can subscribe by going to www.spanishfortelementary.com, where additional information is also posted. Also news can be found at www.bcbe.org, the district’s web site. man for the Baldwin County Board of Education released the following information Saturday night.