By Jeff Lipton
Dozens of Woodmere Middle School students went home ill last Friday-or were pulled out of school by their parents-when fumes seeped into their classrooms as workers were putting hot tar and asphalt on the roof of the adjacent KeySpan Energy building, officials said.
Students and teachers were coughing and choking throughout the morning on Feb. 9 as the noxious fumes invaded the school building through vents and windows. Administrators said 40 students were sent to the school nurse and the condition of 17 students was so severe that they were told to go home. The students complained of headaches, dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing.
Parents who later found out about the fumes through word of mouth pulled 18 other children out of class. In addition, 33 teachers, which is about 60 percent of the staff, reported being ill and eight or nine had to go home. None of the students or staff required hospitalization. The school nurse treated many with inhalers to help their breathing. There were five asthma attacks by students and two by staff, school officials said.
According to school administrators, workers were pouring tar to repair a roof on the KeySpan building, at 455 Mill Road in Hewlett, in the early morning hours of Feb. 9. A music teacher who arrived at 7 a.m. noticed the smell. A thick cloud of smoke hung over the school building, as well, officials said. The wind apparently pushed the fumes toward the school, infiltrating every room in the building, school officials said.
"The head custodian reported to me that he could see a cloud of smoke in the distance as he approached the building this morning [on Feb. 9]," the principal, Claudette Tableman, said. "By 10 a.m., students and staff were reporting to us ill."
The principal said she was upset that KeySpan never notified school officials that they were doing work while school was in session. "This could have potentially endangered the children and staff," Tableman said.
Parents who waited in the school parking lot for their children to be dismissed at 3:10 p.m. were angry that school officials failed to notify them about the fumes. Many of them said that if they had known about the problem, they, too, would have taken their children home, rather than risk their health.
"I didn't even know about it. They should have called us," said Pat Picone, whose two sons attend the school. "Knowing that the fumes were noxious, I would have pulled them out, too. I can't believe it. I'm a little pissed."
One of her sons, Victor, said after he was dismissed, "My head hurt a little bit." Her other son, Chris, said he was suffering with a headache and he tried to call his mom to pick him up, but failed to reach her. "I felt like I wanted to go home," Chris said.
"I'm very angry," added Gail Mirsky, whose son is in the seventh grade at the school. Her son, Josh, said, "I got dizzy and light-headed. I felt like I was going to lose my brain. They [school officials] said there was nothing to worry about. I felt they should have closed down the school."
"If I had known this, my kid would have been out of school in two seconds," said Audrey Eckstein, a parent of a seventh grader. "I would have preferred to have known."
Other students who stayed behind and finished the day in class said they also felt ill, some complaining they had headaches, teary eyes and trouble breathing during the morning.
Ian Goldberg, an eighth-grader, said, "It was horrible, just the smell and all. It was hard to concentrate in school because they were banging the windows open."
But the thought of going home never crossed his mind. "I can't afford to miss one day of school. If you get far behind, you can't catch up," he said.
Notices from the principal were sent home with each student detailing for parents what had happened, but parents questioned what good the notices would do after the fact.
After the initial report of the noxious odors at 7 a.m., the fumes got progressively worse, said assistant principal, Debbie Rifkin. At 10 a.m., school administrators notified district officials and Dennis Sheridan, director of facilities, rushed over to the school. A half-hour later, the fire marshal and health department were notified. A decision was made at 11:30 a.m. not to evacuate after receiving assurances from KeySpan that the work would be halted immediately.
"As long as they suspended work, there would be no danger," Tableman said.
Fans were brought in to help air out the building and by 12:30 p.m., the smell was completely gone, school administrators said.
As students and staff were coming down with symptoms of illness, school officials were prepared to put a contingency plan into place to evacuate the building. "The children's and teachers' health and safety were foremost in our minds," Tableman said. "Almost 1,000 people were endangered and the school administration was not about to let this happen."
Coincidentally, school officials were having a risk assessment done on the middle school building and work was being done on the school roof after three tiles fell down recently due to a leak in the ceiling. The fumes have come at a time when the school building has reached a crisis point as school officials search for solutions to overcrowded classrooms, a serious mold problem and building disrepair.
"The ceiling is falling in, the mold is growing in our halls and now were have fumes permeating our vents," Tableman said.
KeySpan has done similar work with hot tar and asphalt prior to this project on their building, but the conditions were "ripe" on Friday for the fumes to permeate the building, "with the wind and temperature carrying it over to our building," Tableman said. School officials got assurances from Dennis McGlynn, the facilities supervisor of KeySpan, that the work will not be done again during school hours.
Health officials advised that if the conditions persisted over the weekend, those afflicted should see a physician.
"I'm very proud of the staff, administrators and children," Tableman said. "They remained calm, cool and collected. Nobody panicked."
Bonnie Habyan, a KeySpan spokesperson, said the roof work actually started in October and contractors have worked on it about 15 days since then with no complaints until Feb. 9. They immediately ceased operation at 10:30 a.m. when KeySpan was told about the fumes.
"The community is our first concern," she said. "That is our highest priority. We would never do anything that would be harmful to the community." She added that the fire marshal told KeySpan the work was up to code.
