WILBRAHAM — Wilbraham Middle School hosted a book donation drive from Sept. 3-6 at the school after mold spores irrevocably damaged books and other materials in more than a dozen classrooms.
The drive specifically asked community members to donate books after porous materials, which could not be cleaned, had to be “thrown out” during the mold cleaning process, Wilbraham Middle School Principal John Derosia told Reminder Publishing. Other porous materials that were eliminated included ceiling tiles, paperwork and textbooks.
During the drive, residents brought any donated materials to the school. Books were then sorted by genre, such as fiction, non-fiction and graphic novels, by resident and parent teacher organization volunteers, Derosia said. Teachers were then given the opportunity to look through the donated materials to choose what items to put their classrooms during the following week, beginning with the most-impacted staff.
In addition to the book donation drive, Wilbraham Middle School PTO also hosted two Amazon wish lists through which community members could select specific items to buy for the school. These lists were created from speaking with teachers about what resources they were looking to replace in their classrooms. They also included general gift cards for teachers to make their own purchases, Derosia said.
He noted that teachers were previously utilizing their own money to replace classroom items in preparation for school to start, stating that it was “heartbreaking” how some staff lost books collected over up to 30 years.
Derosia highlighted that the school’s PTO was “fantastic” and that the school had received lots of support from the community, saying “People just want to help. They keep asking.”
Mold spores were first visibly identified at Wilbraham Middle School by maintenance and information technology staff on Aug. 6, Derosia stated. While mold was initially found in one classroom, further visual inspections identified mold in the surrounding rooms as well.
The next day, building restoration company 24 Restore began the process of removing and cleaning the mold, including removing porous, contaminated materials as well as taking air samples, Derosia said. Throughout the process, the entire building was tested for mold. Each room was cleaned and tested with additional cleaning and testing until the room was free of mold.
In total, 19 classrooms were impacted by the mold spores, Derosia stated. Cleaning was completed on Tuesday, Aug. 27. In order to allow teachers and staff more time to prepare, the first day of school was delayed from Aug. 29 to Sept. 3. by Superintendent John Provost.
To reduce the future growth of mold, mold resistant ceiling tiles were added to classrooms and multiple dehumidifiers were placed in the school, Derosia said. Additionally, regular testing of the school will be conducted by 24 Restore to proactively identify mold. This will begin in October, he said.
Derosia acknowledged the impact this delay had on families, noting that it required parents to coordinate two additional days of supervision for their children that hadn’t originally been expected.
When asked about additional events to support teachers impacted by the mold, Derosia stated that there was discussion of collecting donations at the October open house, but this was not yet confirmed.
Concerns of communication
The mold issue at Wilbraham Middle School was also raised at the Wilbraham Select Board’s Sept. 9 meeting, with members stating that there was a need for greater communication with the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District on this and other issues.
At the meeting, Select Board member Marc Ducey raised concerns over a lack of communication between the town of Wilbraham and HWRSD, stating that the board was not contacted about the mold issue.
“I’ve been pretty upset that the town was not notified,” Ducey said, highlighting that the school property was located in Wilbraham. He referenced a comment by School Committee member Sean Kennedy during the Sept. 4 meeting in which he stated that communication between the School Committee and district was “outstanding.” Ducey noted that this communication was not extended to the Wilbraham Select Board.
While he stated that the lack of communication was likely not intentional, Ducey emphasized that the Select Board should be contacted on these types of issues.
Following Ducey’s comments, Town Administrator Nick Breault agreed that the Select Board had not been directly contacted about the mold issue. He explained that he had since spoken with Superintendent John Provost about increased communication and was working with Provost to find “common ground” and address the concern in future correspondence.
