School Committee Reacts to Complaints About Quidnessett El Roof

Parents, teachers and concerned residents took to the microphone for the second night in a row to highlight the conditions at l Tuesday night. After , a group of concerned parties reiterated the state of the school’s roof to the School Committee.

Second grade teacher Kim Wilson, who spoke at Monday night’s meeting, told the committee about the condition of her classroom – which a recent survey showed was one of the wettest in the school. According to Wilson, the rugs have not been properly cleaned and students have been getting nosebleeds.

“They told us we can open the windows and doors to air it out, but I don’t have windows or doors in my room,” said Wilson.

Aside from the health and safety issues posed by the situation, a pervasive concern among those who spoke was the lack of communication from the school department regarding the roof. One parent cited the school department’s use of other modes of communications to spread the word regarding the .

“You used us to get your bond passed,” said Kelly Piazza of Edmond Drive, flanked by her two daughters who attend the school. “You used the calling system and emailing system to get the information out about the bond, but you’re not using any system to get the information out to parents and staff about the environment that students are going to every day.”

In response, Superintendent Phil Auger explained that the lack of communication was done to avoid a panic. School Committee Member John Boscardin told speakers that he believed that parents and teachers should be notified of any work going forward and that not doing so would “almost be in dereliction of our duty.”

The mold issues, brought up by multiple speakers, was mainly attributed to construction done at the school over the summer, cited Auger.

“There’s been a lot of testing to make sure that things are safe and all the readings we are getting back are tells us that it’s safe,” said Auger.

Auger added he hopes to get the roof repaired over the summer without the use of taxpayer dollars, but rather funded by the companies that installed the roof.

At the direction of the council, the town’s building official and fire marshal conducted a walkthrough of the school. According to Town Manager Michael Embury, neither saw any major problems, though the building official did ask the school electrician to make sure there was no water in the light fixtures. Last week, repairs were done to the roof and, according to both Embury and Auger, the work “held up” after Tuesday’s rain.

Also at the meeting, State Rep. Doreen Costa (R- North Kingstown) recounted her trip last month to Quidnessett Elementary School to read to a class and was surprised by the buckets and tarps scattered about to collect water. She told the committee that, if they want to enact legislation to use bond funds for the school, she would offer her services.

“If you need legislation passed, I am here,” said Costa. “I can get it done. The faster you get it to me, the faster I can get it to the House floor.”