Parents concerned about air quality during school renovations

Some parents are concerned about the air quality during the major renovations happening at Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside, P.E.I.

The major construction project was estimated to cost $22.6-million and is expected to be completed in 2019.

Samantha MacPherson said her daughter was looking forward to her first year in high school last fall. She had always been healthy and never had any breathing issues.

That change around November, MacPherson said, as her daughter began showing signs of breathing difficulties.

"She could be talking to you and then a big gasp of air, and usually within every sentence there's a gasp," MacPherson said. "It started off every once in awhile and then it became more and more."

MacPherson took her daughter to a doctor, who prescribed an inhaler. But it hasn't seemed to help.

Others coming forward about health concerns

She asked around and heard of other students having similar problems.

Robert Stewart's daughter had headaches, nausea and breathing problems early in the school year.

Stewart says at one point she passed out and fell down a flight of stairs.

"I don't want her to be going to school and the next time she passes out and falls down a flight of stairs that she doesn't get up from," Stewart said.

The entire 160,000-square-foot school will be completely remodeled during its first major upgrade to the school since it opened in 1976. 

The work progresses though the school a section at a time, separating construction zones from students and staff.

"As we go into each area, the first thing we do is hazardous materials abatement," said Tyler Richardson, manager of building design and construction for the department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy.

The whole area is sealed totally and a negative air situation is created in that space. These are protocols that are established with the Workers Compensation Board.— Tyler Richardson

"So the whole area is sealed totally and a negative air situation is created in that space. These are protocols that are established with the Workers Compensation Board."

The hazardous material abatement is done for things like asbestos containing elbows, ceiling tiles or the occasional floor tile. As part of the project, an environmental consultant monitors the situation to ensure the protocols are followed and does tests inside the sealed area.

"The seal is only broken and the negative air chamber exhausting into the atmosphere is only taken down when the clearance testing is complete and meets the requirements," Richardson said. "That has to happen in every area before the area is then turned over and becomes, really, a construction zone." 

Richardson said the barrier seals between construction zones and the rest of the school are monitored on a daily basis.

A small amount of dust will still migrate to the rest of the school during the construction phase, Richardson said.

"We are trying to be very consciences in watching that," he said. "We think that it will be minimal at best, potentially you might have a tiny bit happening at an exit stair that you can't close off because you have to maintain it as a fire exit."

In a letter to families sent out Thursday, the school said extra measures are being taken to ensure the dust barriers between construction areas and the school space are kept clean.

It says that if people are concerned, they should contact the school to discuss individual issues.

If families feel a transfer is what is best for their student's health and learning, they can request alternative schooling arrangements for the remainder of the year.

Changing schools an option

MacPherson said she heard about the possible transfers when she brought her daughter in to see the principal this week. She wanted him to see the difference time away had done to her daughter health as she was breathing easier after being away from the school during spring break.

"We could move schools if we wanted to, there would be no strings attached," MacPherson said. "He told the department that they had to be more lenient for people that could have that option but that is not what we want. We don't want to send her to a different school but we will if we have to."

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