JENSEN BEACH, Fla. — A mold test confirms the presence of some mold inside the auditorium at Jensen Beach High School, following concerns from a parent that mold might be giving her daughter an allergic reaction.
Leigh Giunta told the Martin County School Board and the Florida Department of Health in Martin County that her daughter was getting a rash only when she was inside her classroom in the Jensen Beach Auditorium.
The health department does not test for mold, so the school district decided to hire an outside company to test for possible mold in the building.
“The good news is they did take the initiative because we spoke up. We required action,” Giunta said.
The testing company, The Vertex Companies Inc., said in its report that inspectors did find mold on a cabinet and piece of stereo equipment.
Mold was also observed on a wooden side door to the auditorium, possibly from a leaky roof.
Giunta said she was most concerned to read mold was also discovered in air handler units supplying conditioned air to the building.
“I’m thankful that they did the inspection, the limited indoor air quality inspection. It does show that there’s mold in the facility but it wasn’t extensive,” Giunta said.
However, the report does not make clear whether her daughter’s classroom was tested, where Giunta had concerns about possible mold. Giunta would have also liked to see some kind of testing completed to make sure mold is not developing behind the walls near the roof leak.
“It was limited. It wasn’t even the areas that I would have recommended because nobody reached out to me ever for my concerns, or to say ‘Hey Leigh, you know, where do you think this is happening. Not one phone call,” Giunta said.
The school district’s Chief Operations Officer, Garret Grabowski, accompanied inspectors during their walkthrough.
He explained there is no standard for what is considered a safe or dangerous level of mold, considering exposure can affect people differently. Therefore, they compare the mold counts in the outside air to the mold counts in the inside air as a gauge of whether mold counts are too high inside.
“The count is still very low compared to what we’d find in a normal outside day in Florida. So, we’re finding the conditions are normal,” Grabowski said.
Grabowski also explained the moldy cabinet and stereo equipment were removed from the building. The door was scheduled to be replaced. He also said a company will be cleaning the air handler.
Finally, Grabowski said a contractor has been selected and is moving forward with replacing the leaking roof. That project should be finished within 120 days.
The primary type of mold discovered was Penicillium/Aspergillus. No black mold was detected.