Time For Action

On School Air Quality

To the Editor:

The latest air quality findings will hopefully bring action where it is needed — our schools. Among the school community, the air quality problems have been no secret. Last week’s Newtown Bee article, however, reported the numbers from the recent air testing at Newtown Middle School (NMS) for all to see. At back-to-school night at NMS this year, I experienced the issue first hand.

After spending 45 minutes in an upper C-wing classroom listening to my child’s new teachers, my throat had become very sore. I looked around and noticed that, like some of the ceilings at Hawley School, the ceiling in this room had the look of a low shag rug with water stains. I asked about it and one teacher said I could ask others (in the higher school offices) but that it would never get paid for. He added that he does not notice the air because he takes an allergy medication every day.

In my younger child’s second grade classroom at Hawley School, there was the same type of ceiling with stains. Eight months into the year, she had a month of very bad spring allergic reactions. She had never had seasonal allergies before but has had them every year since then. Maybe it was a coincidence, but it is a known fact, that repeated exposure to mold or poor air quality is connected to a myriad of health issues, including the onset of allergies.

Knowing the test results, how can we now let another month, or even another week pass, without cleaning up the air that our children breathe?

Many times since this September, my daughter, who has homeroom and four classes in the upper C-wing of the Middle School (CO2) levels 1124–-2048 ppm), has lived with headaches and sore throats in school. She hadn’t dealt with asthma for years, but recently it has come back while she is at school.

The testing has been done. The findings are in. I will be shocked if Newtown shows itself to be the kind of town that sweeps this under the rug. All other issues aside, why would a school system that is so focused on Mastery Test results purposely let a situation (high levels of CO2) exist that makes it difficult for students to think clearly and concentrate? This would obviously impact their CMT scores.

Of course, it should not be a question of which school (Hawley or NMS) gets help (an issue last week’s Bee article touched upon). How do you decide which children deserve clean air and which children do not?

And finally, is there any way to explain later to the children of Newtown that we let politics and juggling money prevent us adults from acting responsibly — which in turn, resulted in their compromised abilities in school and their short- and long-term health issues?

Just yesterday, a longtime Newtown resident said to me, “This is a good town.” It seems that this is a critical moment for Newtown to prove that to be true.

Jane Harris

9 Main Street, Newtown                                            January 24, 2010