Sylvania still looks for substitute school

10/26/2001

Sylvania school officials continued yesterday to seek a site to relocate nearly 600 children who are without a school since the board of education voted Monday to temporarily close Central Elementary School.

Administration officials said progress has been made, but no appropriate location has been found.

Cynthia Durdel, assistant superintendent, has said she hopes for classes to resume somewhere by Monday.

The school was closed on Ms. Durdel's recommendation after she received an environmental report that identified molds and other allergens in the school.

Dr. David Grossman, director of the Toledo-Lucas County health department, said the information he has indicates no health reason to close the school.

Nevertheless, parents have become concerned because of the number of Central students who have exhibited rashes, sores, and respiratory problems since the beginning of the school year.

School administrators said that recently between 10 and 20 youngsters were reporting daily to the school nurse with such problems.

Janet Bosserman, a spokeswoman for the relocation committee, acknowledged that neither the health department nor a private environmental firm recommended the closing.

She said that health concerns were involved in the decision, but Ms. Durdel also considered the disruption that was going to be necessary for Enviro-Health to undertake a more invasive investigation of the building.

Ms. Durdel told the school board that Enviro-Health personnel were going to need to go into crawl spaces, look at ceiling tiles, under floorboards, and behind walls to determine the extent of possible irritants.

Until closing the school, children and staff had been removed from seven rooms in the building where mold was found.