Recent Articles on Mobile Classrooms in U-46

[warriorpride]

I found several recent, interesting articles on mobile classrooms in SD 46. I'll add each article as a separate post in this same thread.

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=147195

Nature Ridge parents fed up with trailer classrooms
By Kerry Lester | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 3/5/2008 12:17 AM

Enough with the trailers, a group of Nature Ridge Elementary parents told the Elgin Area School District U-46 board Monday.

The Bartlett school uses four mobile classrooms because it has more students than it can accommodate.

About 112 of the school's 800 students attend classes in mobile units, Principal Terri Lozier said.

"Our enrollment has gone up by 300 students in four years," said Darla Towa, who has two children at the school. "It's so crowded we can't even hold an all-school assembly."

With a projected enrollment of 850 students, three more mobile units are expected to be added to Nature Ridge next year.

Beverly Jaszczurowski, who has a kindergartner at the school, pleaded with the board for a "long-term plan." Citing safety concerns about trailers, "we will move before my children are schooled in U-46 trailers," she said.

According to district data, 95 classrooms are set up in 64 mobile units.

Bartlett, Larkin and Streamwood high schools each have mobile units, as do Canton Middle School and 17 elementary schools.

A capital planning study, to focus on space and capacity, hopes to minimize the use and cost of mobile classroom units throughout the district. The study will be completed by December.

"If we do get three more mobiles in next year, we'll just make it work," Lozier said. "We'll do what we have to do for the best of the kids."

[warriorpride]

Note that this article appeared on March 7

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=149007

Mobile classrooms a health risk? Officials not worried

By Kerry Lester | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 3/7/2008 12:19 AM

A number of Bartlett parents have raised concerns about the long-term health effects of mobile classrooms.

As part of the group's request Monday that Elgin Area School District U-46 board remove two mobile units from Nature Ridge school, Beverly Jaszczurowski cited a Centers for Disease Control study released Feb. 14.

The study found higher-than-typical indoor levels of formaldehyde in travel trailers and mobile homes provided to displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"Long-term exposure to levels in this range can be linked to an increased risk of cancer, and as levels rise above this range, there can also be a risk of respiratory illness," the study said.

Jaszczurowski, a mother of a Nature Ridge kindergartner, suggested students attending class in mobiles for upward of six hours a day could suffer similar health effects as those in Katrina trailers.

"There are serious long-term effects of kids breathing in formaldehyde. … It's not healthy for anyone. It's just not safe," she said.

Nichelle Rivers, associate superintendent for health and life safety issues at the Cook County Regional Department of Education, says she had never heard of formaldehyde leaks in trailers until the CDC report came out.

"Parents are parents, and they're going to make a connection between mobile classrooms and mobile homes," Rivers said. "But I wouldn't compare mobile classrooms to these trailers."

Kane County Regional Superintendent Doug Johnson echoed Rivers thoughts.

"I can tell you, the school districts all want to get rid of these as soon as we can," Johnson said. "But mobile classrooms are very different from the Katrina trailers. … Those would never be approved to be used in schools to begin with."

About 112 of Nature Ridge's 800 students attend classes in mobile units, Principal Terri Lozier said. With a projected enrollment of 850 students, three more mobile units are expected to be added next year.

According to district data, 95 classrooms are set up in 64 mobile units.

Bartlett, Larkin and Streamwood high schools each have mobile units, as do Canton Middle School and 17 elementary schools.

Jaszczurowski implored the board to have a long-term plan.

"We will move before my children are schooled in U-46 trailers," she said Monday.

Both the Cook and Kane County Regional Department of Education make annual inspections to schools that feature mobile classrooms.

"An architect first comes out to do an inspection of each of the units," Rivers said. County officials then do their own inspection to check the architect's work.

Rivers recommended U-46 parents "ask the district to come in and conduct a check. Have an outside consultant come in and inspect the units safety," she said.

A capital planning study, to focus on space and capacity, hopes to minimize the use of -- and spending on -- mobile classroom units throughout the district.

The district's last capital planning study was completed in 1998. The new study will be completed by December.

With a projected enrollment next year of 850 students, Nature Ridge is expected to get three more mobile classrooms for the 2008-09 school year.

"We'll do what we have to do for the best of kids," Lozier said. "If we do get three more mobiles in next year, we'll make it work."

[warriorpride]

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=156100

U-46 puts trailers to the test
District checking mobile units for formaldehyde
By Kerry Lester | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 3/19/2008 12:12 AM

Mobile classrooms are now being tested for safety concerns, the Elgin Area School District U-46 school board revealed Monday.

The decision came after a Bartlett mother approached the board earlier this month, suggesting the district's 96 temporary classrooms could be a source of noxious fumes, causing serious health effects.

Beverly Jaszczurowski, whose son is a Nature Ridge kindergartner, cited a Centers for Disease Control study released Feb. 14.

The study found higher-than-typical indoor levels of formaldehyde in travel trailers and mobile homes provided to displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"Long-term exposure to levels in this range can be linked to an increased risk of cancer, and as levels rise above this range, there can also be a risk of respiratory illness," the study said.

Jaszczurowski suggested students attending class in mobiles for upward of six hours a day could suffer similar health effects as those in Katrina trailers.

"There are serious long-term effects of kids breathing in formaldehyde. … It's not healthy for anyone. It's just not safe," she told the board.

After her presentation, Jaszczurowski received a letter from U-46 attorney Patrick Broncato.

"It ignored the exact issues I had spoken about," Jaszczurowski said. "It was basically a polite brush-off."

Jaszczurowski wrote the board again March 10, asking the district again to conduct testing on its trailers.

Monday, Jaszczurowski said she received a call from Broncato that testing had been done on Nature Ridge's four mobile classrooms.

"I was pretty surprised," she said.

Jeff King, the district's executive director of operations, told the board that results from the Nature Ridge tests should be completed by next week.

"Typically, when we do classroom tests, we look for carbon dioxide and mold. Formaldehyde is something new," King said.

The board will wait to hear the results of those tests before deciding whether to test all of the district's mobile units, board President Ken Kaczynski said.

With a projected enrollment next year of 850 students, Nature Ridge is expected to get three more mobile classrooms for the 2008-09 school year.

A capital planning study, to be completed next year, hopes to minimize the use of mobile classroom units throughout the district by 2009.

Though the board voted Monday to bid on more mobile units for next school year, if they are found to be dangerous, that bid could be reversed, board member Maria Bidelman said.

"If they end up doing the right thing, that's great," Jaszczurowski said.