At an Oct. 21 work session, Deputy Superintendent Johnny Hill confirmed that the district received a certification indicating the school passed indoor air quality and humidity tests.
Staff returned to the facilities Oct. 16 and students Oct. 20, according to PISD’s website.
The details
The remediation work began after community members reported concerns of mold, which was then tested by two independent air quality assessments.
Results showed that several areas of the building were affected by elevated humidity issues and visible mold growth, but no black mold was detected in the building, according to Hill’s presentation.
Plano ISD contracted independent mold and heating, ventilation and air conditioning specialists to lead the remediation efforts, which included:
- In-depth cleaning of HVAC systems
- Surface disinfecting
- Installation of dehumidifiers and air purifiers
- Carpet replacement
- Window resealing
According to Hill, the district is working to improve its protocols for preventative maintenance of all HVAC equipment to avoid any future problems.
Some steps PISD will take include updating the maintenance rotation to make it more regular, analyzing work orders to identify trends in growing concerns and implementing professional development for HVAC staff to improve maintenance efforts.
The district will also reevaluate all upcoming 2022 bond program projects that include HVAC components and explore ways to accelerate them.
The discussion
Board member Michael Cook expressed concern that PISD’s preventative HVAC maintenance protocols are not being applied consistently across the district’s campuses, which could potentially lead to similar incidents such as the one at Murphy Middle School.
“In order for Murphy to get to where it got to, there are a lot of people that had to make a decision,” Cook said. “My concern is that it did not seem as deliberate; it seemed very reactive.”
He recommended that the district develop more process-oriented protocols to ensure coherence in the maintenance applied across campuses.
