Mold, CO2... now Radon?
As the Westport school administration kept air quality reports to itself from 2002 on poor ventilation and 2006 on mold and CO2, it does not surprise parents to learn that the administration has not been forthcoming with producing reports on Radon levels at King's Highway elementary school.
Parents attending the MRC meetings have reported that Elliott Landon and the school administration have not satisfied Gavin Anderson's request for past Radon reports at KHS. Supposedly these reports are required every two years at each of the school buildings.
Given that every homeowner in Westport likely ran a Radon test before purchasing their home, this is data that parents can easily understand and interpret.
We hope Mr. Anderson or one of the town media outlets is successful in having Landon produce these Radon reports going back to when he began in his role. We hope the BOE that was unaware of the 2002 and 2006 reports makes a similar request of the school administration.
You can read about Radon at the EPA site, at the National Safety Council, or at the Connecticut State Department of Health.
3 comments:
Remember at the bottom Pandora's box was the one being that could save humanity...HOPE.
How much is enough?
What is wrong with you people? Where did you ever get the idea that your children were entitled to a hospital-clean, sterile school? It is so typical of the sense of entitlement that seems to grip more and more of the people that move to our town that their precious children's childhoods be free from the sniffs, coughs, and sniffles that most normal people used to understand were a perfectly natural part of childhood. Oh no, not the perfect self-infatuated Westport Parents whose perfect children could never get a cold, cough, or runny nose because those ailments only effect lesser children, of lesser parents, from lesser towns. No, if my child is sick, it must be someone else’s fault. It’s not enough that we smother and over-parent our children and go to great lengths to insulate them from the normal trials and tribulations of everyday life that, up until this generation of parents, everyone knew were just part of “growing up”. It used to be that falling down, skinning knees, and bug bites were as much a part of childhood as tag, hopscotch, and hide and seek. Now are we going to insist upon a completely germ-free existence or our kids? What’s next, will we demand that the Town and school district pay for bio bubbles?
Again, I ask how much is enough? Will it be enough when your hysterics drive up everyone’s taxes? Who do you think pays for all this overkill — the school district, the town? There is no “school district” or “town”, only us, the taxpayers. We are the school district and the town. Your irrational zealotry will cost me money, lots of it. Money I would rather spend sending my children to college, not protecting your perfect children from the basic challenges of childhood.
Will it be enough when every child at King’s Highway is terrified that the simple act of going to school will make them sick? Asking Kindergarteners and first graders to understand the complexity of this issue is a bit much. That these “risks” are only “risks” to some children but not others is a distinction lost on small kids. What kind of psychological scars are going to be left on these kids who think their parents are wantonly sending them to a dangerous place? Have you people really thought through what you’re doing here? Have you ever thought beyond your own parochial concerns?
Likewise, will it be enough when you destroy the value of homes in the King’s Highway school district? You’ve essentially branded King’s Highway as radioactive because of some mold and dust. What family in their right mind would buy a house in this part of Westport? “Oh, that’s the ‘mold’ school. No thanks, I think we’ll look in Greens Farms.” Did you think about that? Of course not, but, that would require you to think about others, and not your own narrow self-interest.
So to summarize, because your group has blown this issue completely out of proportion, my taxes will go up, my house will be worth less, and you’ve scared the daylights out of my kids. But, hey, your kid won’t have to be traumatized by another runny nose or be inconvenienced with a sneeze or two. Yeah, that’s a pretty fair trade. Thanks, I appreciate it.
Now obviously, this site is an advocacy site and blogs and comments are generally supportive of KHS Clean Air’s point of view. I trust your group is confident enough to tolerate differing points of view. While I have used animated language in making my points, my post is neither immoderate, nor profane. Should you choose to censor this comment and not post it, I will know I was mistaken in my assumption that this was an open forum.
You are correct that no child should fear going to school and
germs and illness are a natural part of childhood, they help strenthen the immune system.
Constant exposure to irritants, such as mold and mildew have the opposite effect, they compromise the immune system.
How a taxpayer's money is spent is actually what should have you concerned.
What has happened at KHS should never have happenened, at least not to the degree you see today.
Simple ongoing maintainance and attention to reports could have lessened the overall impact of the floods and leaks that plague all buildings...homes, schools and businesses.
As far as your property values...wait unitl the reports from other schools are completed and results presented, you will find that you are not alone.
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