October 16, 2017 Update

Air Quality Communication Task Force Email Responses 10/16/17

• Reports are available for viewing on the website.
• Any student absences which occurred on October 6, 2017 through October 17, 2017 will be excused as per the Superintendent.
• Whitehall students will not need any additional supplies at this time. Donated supplies are available for any Holly Glen or Whitehall student who needs them.
• TTI is a fully-insured company.
• Pending TTI’s professional recommendations, issues related to carpeting will be addressed at that time.
• The Task Force has relayed to Mr. Earling and the BOE requests by some parents to conduct additional testing to obtain a second opinion.
• With regards to library materials from Holly Glen, the Task Force will relay this question to Holly Glen building administration. They will be sending out a response to parents.
• At this time, a definitive return date for students and staff to Whitehall has not been established. As remediation work goes on, timelines will be available.
• The Gloucester County Superintendent and Business Administrator toured WMS and have approved the district plan to relocate Whitehall students and staff to this location.
• On Tuesday 10/17/16 at 6:00pm, Whitehall parents are invited to tour the classrooms being used for their children at WMS. A parent information packet will be provided at this time. A copy of this packet will also be posted on the website.
• Parents of walkers should report to Holly Glen as early as 3:35pm to await their child’s arrival. As the bus routes become more established so will the parent pick-up times.
• All students with IEPs will continue to receive services at their new location.
• There are plans to conduct air quality testing at the Maple Grove Administration building.
• While there are no plans to test the football field house at this time, if there are concerns the Superintendent will recommend to the BOE that testing is conducted in this location as well.
• Please see previous updates for a description of the remediation process.
• Questions regarding individual HVAC systems will be relayed to TTI.
• Suggestions to have a “Facilities Page” providing a status update will be discussed and information will be forthcoming.

October 15, 2017 Special Update

On Saturday, October 14^th, the district received information that Open Bible Baptist was no longer a viable option in case remediation at Whitehall would take longer than a week to complete. Relocating Whitehall students to an in-district location was determined to be the best option for continuity of instruction. The district administrators held an emergency meeting today to discuss and finalize an alternate plan for quickly and safely returning our Whitehall students to school. Pending final approval from the Gloucester County Superintendent’s Office, we are prepared to move forward with the plan to move Whitehall Elementary students and staff into areas of Williamstown Middle School.

Williamstown Middle School welcomes Whitehall Elementary students to their temporary building location! We know this has been a difficult time for your families and we hope to alleviate your fears and concerns over this move. In order to address this, we have teamed with administrators and staff to select locations within the middle school that best accommodate the Whitehall students during the remediation of their building. Williamstown Middle School has been cleared by TTI Environmental, Inc. and any rooms of concern have been remediated, retested, and cleared for all students and staff to safely return. The WMS/Whitehall faculty and administration has been busy preparing those sections of the middle school to house elementary students. We have strategically selected areas of the middle school where the Whitehall students will be secluded and able to return seamlessly to a full instructional day. We have received donations from faculty, staff, students, and local businesses to provide additional supplies and materials to supplement and enhance instruction for your children.

We cannot thank you all enough for your patience and support.

· Whitehall Faculty and Staff will be reporting to the WHS Theater tomorrow, October 16^th at 8:00AM for an in-service day.

· Whitehall students will be returning to school on Wednesday, October 18^th.

· Parents will be invited to attend an Open House at WMS on Tuesday, October 17^th at 6:00PM. More information will be forthcoming.

Grade level relocations will be as follows:

1. Kindergarten- E104 (This location has a separate entrance off of Clayton Road by the Community of Caring garden and has self-contained bathrooms.)

2. First Grade- 5/6 Media Center

3. Second Grade- E101 and E109

4. Third Grade- Braves Zone

5. Fourth Grade- Braves Zone

6. Mrs. Monzo’s Class- B102-C (off 5/6 Media Center)

7. Mrs. Goins’ Class- Faculty Prep Room

8. Just Kids- The Just Kids program will be housed in Cafeteria B.

9. Nurse’s Office- The Whitehall School Nurse will be housed with the 5/6 School Nurse by the 5/6 Main Entrance.

School Contact Information:

Whitehall Elementary School@ Williamstown Middle School

561 Clayton Road

Williamstown, New Jersey 08094

Phone: (856) 629-7444 ext. 3050

(Please continue to use all other Whitehall phone extensions as they will be rerouted to the middle school.)

Administration/ Office Staff:

Mrs. Joanne Rumpf- Principal

Mr. Robert Eley- Assistant Principal

Mrs. Michelle Klein- Head Teacher

Mr. Carlo Gonzalez- Guidance Counselor

Mrs. Teresa Pressley- Secretary

Mrs. Lisa Ambrose-Jerome- Office Paraprofessional

Mrs. Rumpf will be in the building for daily supervision. You may reach her at 856-629-7444 ext. 3050. You may also email Mrs. Rumpf at jrumpf@monroetwp.k12.nj.us.

The Williamstown Middle School Administration will also be in the building daily from 7:30AM to 4:00PM. You may reach the middle school at 856-629-7444 ext. 3000.

Times:

School hours will remain 8:55AM-3:30PM.

Arrival/Dismissal:

All bus routes and pick up/drop off times will remain the same.

1. 3^rd and 4^th Grade students will arrive and dismiss from the Braves Zone.

2. 1^st and 2^nd Grade students will arrive and dismiss at the 5/6 Main Entrance.

3. Kindergarten students will arrive and dismiss at the WMS Bus Loading Zone by the Community of Caring Garden.

Student Drop Offs/Pick-Ups:

(8:40AM-8:55AM)

1^st- 4^th Grades: 5/6 Main Entrance

Kindergarten- Please drop off your child at the WMS Bus Loading Zone (adjacent to Clayton Rd. by the Community of Caring Gardens). Map will be forthcoming.

Teachers will be there to escort the students.

Arriving to School Early:

All pupils transported by car should arrive between 8:40AM and 8:55AM. Students are NOT to arrive to school prior to 8:40AM and will not be permitted in the building prior to 8:40AM, as there is no adult supervision. Students will need to be dropped off at the 5/6 Main Entrance.

Just Kids Program:

Parents are asked to use the 5/6-side Cafeteria B entrance for drop off and pick up to the Just Kids program. The Just Kids program will be housed in Cafeteria B. Map will be forthcoming.

Cafeteria/Recess/Breakfast:

More information will be forthcoming.

School Nurse:

Students will have access to the School Nurse for all health care needs.

October 14th Update:

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The district has heard your concerns about ensuring the safety and quality of education at the new location for Whitehall students and staff. Upon further review the District has determined that Open Bible Baptist is not a viable option in case remediation at Whitehall takes longer than a week. Relocating these students to an in-district location is now determined to be the best option. District and building administration will be meeting to iron out the details throughout the weekend and an update will be provided by the task force tomorrow. Any updates will be posted to this website and shared via a Global Connect call.

October 13th Daily Update:

Daily Update:

School Closing / Reopening Information:

On Monday, all staff (teachers, secretaries, clerks) will return to work at 8:00AM. All staff should report to the WHS Theater. This will be an inservice day. After the conclusion of the meeting, all staff will report to their respective buildings to continue the day preparing for moves to be made. Holly Glen teachers will report to their new locations. Classrooms that are currently in isolation will be cleared by Monday. Paraprofessionals will report to their respective buildings on Tuesday, October 17.

As of the time of this update, schools will be reopened to students on Tuesday, October 17, 2017. Students will report to their assigned schools. Please see the PDF below for detailed instructions on Holly Glen Relocation Plans.

Yesterday, in our daily update, Mr. Earling stated that “any Monroe Township Public Schools student who was not in school on Friday, October 6th will be excused from school on that date”. We need to clarify that Holly Glen had school cancelled that day by the district. Per state code, all students need to be in school 180 days in the school year. If the district cancelled school, then that day will need to be made up. We will provide further information regarding that in the future.

Air Quality and Remediation Information:

General - Please the PDF below for the opinions of TTI regarding reopening of buildings. At this time TTI has not sent any air sampling test results, besides Holly Glen, to the task force or the Superintendent. TTI will forward their raw data and their final report to the Superintendent and the task force as soon as it is done.

At this time, TTI is recommending that All Risk perform a cleanup at Whitehall as a precautionary measure after air sampling all rooms. They will expedite this process. Educational contingency plans are being drawn up by the district administration. The Open Bible Baptist School will be used temporarily to house the Whitehall students for next week. This includes the Just Kids Program as well. The Whitehall buses will be diverted to that building and information regarding bus routes will be forthcoming.. At this point, since this information is currently unfolding, the district will be working through Monday on more detailed plans for Whitehall. The district has been assured that the building is in safe condition and up to code.

Isolated Rooms in Schools are as follows, and will be cleaned and re-tested

WHS - D103

WMS - E101 Music Room, 7-8 Library, Auditorium

Radix - 101, 204, 211

Oak Knoll - Nurse’s Office

Whitehall - Entire Building is currently being air tested

School Events Information:

WMS - The PTO and PAB meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 25th. PTO meeting will be at 6:30PM and the PAB will be at 7:00PM. Both meetings will be in the WMS Auditorium.

Oak Knoll - Terrific Kid ceremony for September/October has been rescheduled for October 24th at 9:30AM.

All Holly Glen and Radix students will still celebrate Halloween with a parade, as planned. The 4^thgraders from Holly Glen will be bussed directly to Radix on Halloween and spend the day there. The details for that day’s events are forthcoming.

Parent conferences that were originally scheduled for October 23 - 27 will be postponed to December 4 - 8. October 23 - 27 days will now be full days of school, while December 4 - 8 will be half days.

Holly Glen - In an effort to offer you and your child reassurance during this time of transition from Holly Glen, Radix and WHS would like to provide your family an opportunity to see their new school environment. Please listen for the times of the open houses to be held on Monday evening, October 16th:

Grades K-3 are invited to Radix Elementary at 6:30 p.m.

Pre-school and PDD classes are invited to Oak Knoll at 6:30 p.m.

Grade 4 is invited to Williamstown High School at 5:00 p.m. There, families should park in the gym lot and proceed to Door #26 in the K-wing. Assistance will be provided.

Building administrators look forward to welcoming you! See the Holly Glen website for an informational letter from Mr. Earling.

Additional Information:

The bus company is a completely independent contractor within the district. They operate independent of the district. The bus companies were also informed that schools were closed for the week of October 9th. As the district had not made a final determination about school for the week of October 16th, some bus drivers assumed that they would resume routes on Monday October 16th.

Answers to Emails/Messages:

Any teachers who need to submit signed contracts will be provided an appropriate extension on their timelines. Contact your union reps if you are concerned.

Many options for rentals in surrounding townships, for example Total Turf, would have costs that would be prohibitive to explore these options. This is due to rental costs, transportation costs and insurance related issues.

Details on picture days at the various schools (Radix was the specific question) will be forthcoming once the building principals make a decision.

If any student left behind any personal items in any of the buildings, the task force will relay this information to the building administration who will then reach out to the parent with an answer as to when those items will be returned.

Elementary level Halloween festivities will still take place. Details will be forthcoming.

Elementary level special area classes (i.e. Music, Art, Physical Education), as well as TAG classes, will still take place for all grade levels.

When students return to school, there may be some areas of the buildings that are still in remediation. Students will be not permitted in those areas and they will be partitioned off from the general population. HVAC systems will be shut off to those areas as well.

Aramark maintains the HVAC systems in the district buildings and has maintained them since July 1st, 2017. We have requested they provide us with their maintenance logs. Maintenance logs prior to this time have been requested from the previous contractor.

At WHS, the classrooms currently occupied by WHS staff and students have been relocated for the Holly Glen 4th grade. All affected staff have been informed and students will be directed on where their classes will be held upon return.

October 12th Daily Update:

Daily Update:

School Closing Information:

There is no new information at this time.

Air Quality and Remediation Information:

TTI has multiple crews still assessing and sampling the buildings. As the air testing process is completed, and as results come in, TTI is advising All Risk as to the remediation work plan. Remediation includes isolating the room, cleaning the affected areas, air scrubbing for 24 hours, then, while under isolation the area will undergo retesting (which includes a visual inspection and air test). When the area is cleared, it will be released from isolation. TTI is being overly cautious, the owner is going above his standard protocols to quell the concerns of the community.

WHS - Inspections are complete at Williamstown High School. TTI is hoping that surface and air quality results will be coming back from the lab by tomorrow. At this time, we have not received word on the need to isolate or remediate any room at the high school. Concerns at the high school are minimal.

WMS - Inspections are complete at Williamstown Middle School. Once again, TTI is hoping that surface and air results will be back from the lab by October 13th. All Risk does have rooms in isolation based on TTI’s recommendations.

Whitehall - Inspections will be finished on the evening of the October 12th. Lab results will be forthcoming.

Oak Knoll - Inspections were completed on October 12th. TTI is hoping that surface and air results will be coming back from the lab by tomorrow. Concerns at Oak Knoll are minimal.

Radix - Inspections were completed on October 12th. TTI is hoping that surface and air results will be coming back from the lab by tomorrow. There are rooms under concern at Radix that are currently under isolation.

Holly Glen - There are no new updates at this time. The reason for no activity at Holly Glen by All Risk or TTI is that priority is being given to the other schools in order to get them up and running first. We know Holly Glen will take 3 months, so other schools need to be prioritized. Engineers are currently working on designing a new HVAC unit.

School Events Information:

WHS - Senior Portraits will be now be held in the WHS Theater Lobby on Saturday October 14th.

WMS - The Renaissance Trip is postponed. As of October 12th, there is not a rescheduled date yet.

Elementary Level - The elementary principals are looking at the option of rescheduling parent/teacher conferences due to the uncertainty of when the schools will be reopening.

Additional Information:

We would like to remind everyone of the of the parent meeting tomorrow. Brian Bovio has posted a message on Facebook seeking volunteers. Please reach out to him if you are interested through the facebook post on the Monroe Township Public Schools Mold Page.

Answers to Emails/Messages:

Brian Bovio brought in two parents to observe the task force process today so that others in the community could see how the task force works.

The trash that people are seeing being thrown out are mainly things that are being thrown away to make room for the Holly Glen students that will be relocating to these schools.

In addition to classrooms, all offices will be checked as well.

HVAC system were designed for certain amounts of students in each room. At Radix, even though overall capacity is 1200, that would require at least 35-40 students in each classroom. This could overload the HVAC system which would be poor for air quality.

We are investigating rooms of concern that staff/parents have emailed to us.

Currently, EMSL is the only lab that TTI uses because they believe consistency in the results is of the utmost importance. As stated earlier, TTI is working on getting expedited results back.

There have been many donations so far, however they are scattered in different locations. We will determine the best course of action for organizing everything first, once we know when school is to be reopened.

The daily update serves as the official record of the task force meeting.

The rooms that are isolated will be re-tested for air quality before being reopened. If their air quality is poor still, it will continue to be isolated and remediated.

Cafeteria capacity in Radix will not be a problem. There are enough lunch periods throughout the day to prevent overcrowding.

Per Mr. Earling, any Holly Glen student not in attendance on Thursday, October 5th will be excused from school on that date.

Per Mr. Earling, any Monroe Township Public Schools student who was not in school on Friday, October 6th will be excused from school on that date.

The bus company is preparing for students for their new bus routes for when they come back. Some parents may have already received a phone call with their new bus numbers. Since the bus company is a private contractor and not a district bussing system, they are just catching up to the proposed route changes for the Holly Glen students.

The individual building administrators where students will be now relocating to will put together a plan for drop off and pick up of students. When those plans are in place, you will be updated.

Mr. Brian Bovio forwarded a letter to Mr. Earling and the Board of Education today stating that no company that he has an ownership or management role in will be bidding any work to the Monroe Township School District for at least 1 year from the time my service to this task force is completed.

October 11 Daily Update:

Parents, Guardians, Faculty, Staff, Students,

In response to the feedback we have received through emails, we want to address the concerns of Mr. Earling, Mr. Caruso and Mr. Ross appearing on the task force website. The task force met this morning without any of the three gentlemen. This is a stand alone committee consisting of representatives from all unions and parent representatives. Mr. Brian Bovio is now reaching out to parents to solicit people who can donate time to this task force. These new members will be determined through a process outlined at the parent meeting on Friday. Mr. Bovio is reaching out to parents who have expressed interest in membership on the task force.

Mr. Earling, Mr. Caruso, and Mr. Ross appeared as part of the task force because we need access to the results of the inspections and cleanings. We also need access to district equipment and information we would normally not have access to. In addition, we need access to the district policies and procedures as well. This group can not change or modify any Board policies.

Moving forward, because he is the district’s Chief School Administrator, Mr. Earling is required legally to act on the task force as a liaison for the district and the Board of Education. He will serve as a member of the committee in this capacity. His job will be to relay information to the task force that the district is receiving. Our job is to organize that information, along with the information we receive, in preparation for release to the public. Any information we release that is communicated to the public through this task force needs to be viewed, by code, prior to release, by the Chief School Administrator. Because this committee has been established to ensure consistency of communication with the public and the media, Mr. Ross and Mr. Caruso will now be forwarding all requests for information to this group. This includes any media requests or interviews.

In addition, the Holly Glen representatives introduced at the Board meeting decided that there was enough representation from the teachers on the committee and are re-focusing their efforts to help their colleagues move. The email address that we provided and the Facebook page is managed by the union stakeholders and parent representatives of this task force.The task force created the website yesterday with information that we requested from Central Administration.

In addition, the task force now has access to TTI and All Risk directly. Please know that both companies are working together so you may see activity by both of them at the schools. Also, the NJEA, which is the state union representing the teachers and secretaries, will have access to an industrial hygienist and indoor air quality specialist. NJEA has partnered with the Healthy Schools Now Coalition to adopt the best practices of maintaining health schools. We also feel the need to address the fact that the task force did not have a second company in to do inspections of Holly Glen. The MTEA, MTAES, and the MTFT, with the health of our members in mind, hired an independent contractor. Their results were similar to TTI’s results. This was done side-by-side with TTI.

In addition, Brian Bovio, our parent representative, walked the buildings with TTI today. No other member of the task force or district administration was involved in this walk through. Finally, we would like to point out that this task force is made up of volunteers from all stakeholder groups. No member of this task force is receiving any pay from this district to act as a member of this group. We will meet daily in the afternoon to address concerns and issue updates to the public. We will make every effort to release information by 5PM each day. Please see our daily update below.

Thank You,

Monroe Township Air Quality Communications Task Force

Daily Update:

School Closing Information:

Principals will have an administrative meeting to discuss make-up days and the feasibility of using half days or inservice days to make up time. Elementary Parent Conferences will also be discussed at this meeting. Outcomes of this meeting will be part of a future daily update. No new information at this time.

Air Quality and Remediation Information:

Brian Bovio has volunteered to be the member of the committee that touches base with TTI every day to observe and get future updates.

The Air Lab (EMSL) that our samples are sent to, is backed up due to issues in Florida and Texas and other areas nationally.

WMS is having air samples tested today and tomorrow by TTI. They will be collecting samples from 25-30 rooms. These tests will be based on observations and recommendations from faculty and staff. The girls’ locker room is being tested. Areas of concern are the auditorium and an art room (E109). Air testing is still ongoing, and results will be posted in a future daily update. WMS rooms of concern are being isolated for future remediation by All Risk.

Whitehall has already had 10 rooms that were observed and TTI is still awaiting results. TTI will inspect the rest of the rooms at Whitehall tonight and finish tomorrow.

WHS inspections are ongoing. Brian Bovio observed these inspections going on at WHS today. Lockers were being opened and rooms inspected. Air quality tests will be forthcoming in the next few days. Areas that were cleared yesterday can continue to be utilized.

Oak Knoll is pending inspection.

Radix rooms that Holly Glen students are moving to, were already inspected and results are forthcoming. The remaining rooms in Radix will be inspected.

Holly Glen began exterior boring today to assess the groundwater levels at that building. Gutters were also inspected.

TTI is inspecting every room in every school throughout the district. Every room has temperature and humidity tested as well. This process includes moving furniture, ceiling tiles and inspecting other systems such as HVAC. They are following IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, Restoration Certifications) protocols. These protocols are the standards by which inspection and cleaning should be done to ensure safety. The weblink is www.iicrc.org .

School Events Information:

Junior Ring Night is still scheduled for October 17th. If it needs to be rescheduled, we will update in the future.

The Blood Drive at the High School that was scheduled for Friday October 13, 2017 is cancelled at this time. The administrators at the High School, in conjunction with the advisor and Red Cross, are looking into possible make up dates.

Other Information:

As for having a mold specialist on the committee, through the NJEA which is the state union representing the teachers and secretaries, we have access to an industrial hygienist and indoor air quality specialist.

The task force has reached out to Mr. Ed Knorr and are awaiting his response. In addition he will be at the parent meeting Friday night.

The district is attempting to get consistency in results, which is why TTI is the only company that was contracted to perform air quality tests.

We thank parents for volunteering to help the district clean up, but to ensure safety a professional company will be doing the cleanup. Parents can contact the district if they would like to help in other ways.

Students have access to various website links via the district Curriculum Department website (www.monroetwp.k12.nj.us) to help keep students engaged in academic tasks while off from school. This will be at the discretion of the parents and students whether they choose to utilize these resources.

The district is looking into how we can keep Holly Glen walkers and transfers protected from the outdoor elements. Information will be forthcoming.

Teachers will be informed by their building administrator if their rooms are in need of remediation upon return. They will be permitted to submit a list of items that cannot be replaced to the superintendent's office as stated yesterday.

The overall capacity of Radix is 1200 students. Currently Radix has 675 students. Approximately 400 students will be moving to Radix from Holly Glen. In addition, the cafeteria capacity is 380. At no point will any area be over capacity.

Due to the volume of emails, the task force will address each one at our daily meeting and respond via the daily update.

Through our unions, there is representation from all areas of the district. In addition, there are representatives from each level (Elementary, Middle and High School).

The MTEA/GCEA is hosting a backpack and pen/pencil pick up for students. The event is from 4PM-7PM on 10/12 at CrossFit on Thomas Ave. in Williamstown, NJ

At Radix, there was a classroom that had been used as a custodial closet for years. Recently, it had to be converted back to a classroom for Holly Glen student use. As they organized items to be relocated or disposed of, they were left in the Radix vestibule. Among them is this trash can with spray cans in it. While these can do look like white spray paint cans, as you can see from the picture below, these cans are not spray paint.