Schools

Officials Say Mold in Mullen School Remediated, Some in Public Remain Wary

Low levels of mold were found in four areas of the middle school in the Sicklerville section of Gloucester Township, officials said.

Gloucester Township school officials Monday said low levels of mold had been remediated from Ann Mullen Middle School after a weekend cleanup by an environmental hazard company.

But a teacher and several others in an audience of about two dozen Monday at a school board meeting questioned if the school had been properly cleaned.

Patricia Wagner, a special education teacher at Mullen, said she wanted a whiteboard removed from a wall in one of four areas where mold was found. She said the Camden County board of health, which evaluated the level of mold in the school, told her and other teachers it did not have the capacity to test for mold in the sheetrock behind the board.

Wagner said she believed mold may have formed there because of a leak. Department of Health officials said several leaky pipes had been discovered in areas with mold.

School Superintendent John Bilodeau said he thought the mechanical systems at Mullen were "not very good" but he and the board were satisfied the affected areas are now safe for students, teachers and administrators.

The Camden County department of health issued two reports on mold levels at the school, in June and this month. The June results showed no mold and the October results showed low levels of mold in two classrooms, the foyer to the media center and an area of the guidance office. 

School officials said they thought heavy rain over the summer may have elevated mold levels at the school this fall.


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