School board discusses options to eradicate mold at elementary school

School district officials are sure toxic mold growing at Bordewich-Bray Elementary School needs to be removed. They are not sure how or when to do it or how much it will cost.

Mike Mitchell, director of operations, presented the Carson City School Board with a variety of options during the Tuesday meeting.

The most costly but preferred option would be to tear down the five modular buildings infected with the mold and build a permanent addition to the Bordewich building.

It would cost about $3.5 million.

"Although it's the most expensive, it's the one that has the most potential to self-fund," Mitchell said.

He presented the idea that the little used Gleason Complex on Musser Street could be sold as well as a parcel of land on Highway 50. He estimated that the two properties could generate between $250,000 and $400,000.

If the Gleason Complex were sold, Mitchell said the programs housed there could be moved to the Bray building and Bordewich-Bray would become Bordewich Elementary School, contained in a single building.

The elementary school is currently an eight-building campus.

The board also considered other alternatives.

"One of the options would be to go in and have our mold-mitigation contractor tear into all the buildings and remove the mold," he said. "Another contractor would then come in a replace all those walls in a way that the mold won't come back."

He estimated the cost to be between $400,000 and $600,000.

Another option would be to remove the existing portable buildings and replace them with new, better-designed portables. It would cost about $800,000.

Three forms of toxic mold were discovered within the walls of the school's five modular buildings in November. Much of the mold was removed during the winter break earlier this month.

The remaining mold is sealed inside the walls and does not permeate the air of the classrooms but officials are wary of potential danger.

The three types of mold detected were Cladosporium, Penicillium-Aspergillus and Stachybotrys.

The mold has been known to cause symptoms ranging from coughing and watery eyes to diarrhea and short-term memory loss.

However, Principal Sue Keema said no symptoms have been reported at the school.