Springville family takes extra medical break after mold cleanup

The final classrooms at Springville Community Schools closed by mold last week could reopen as early as Wednesday after cleaning and air quality testing.  But for one Springville family, that's not quite good enough.

Heather and James Stivers, 134 Circle Dr. Springville, have two daughters at Springville Elementary and both have had problems with asthma and allergies.  Eight-year-old Hanna, a third grader, returned to class with everyone else on Monday.  But at the end of the day, she came home wheezing and coughing and told her mother “I started to cough and I said it must be the stuff.”

Mother Heather Stivers added “she goes-and the mold mom, it's stinky in there.”

Heather Stivers said she gave her daughter a breathing treatment and took her to a doctor.  With a history of “hypersensitivity” to irritants, Stiver said the doctor advised staying away from the school a few extra days to make sure the mold was truly gone.

Terry Rhinehart, Springville Superintendent, said air quality tests found the majority of the building okay and so he ordered classes resumed after a day and a half of dismissals last week.  The rooms that didn't passed the first air test remain sealed and won't reopen until another air tests finds the quality acceptable.  That could happened Wednesday.

But Stivers, who already home schools one older daughter, said she'll teach the other kids at home this week just to be sure.

“I would rather have them out a few days extra just to insure that it is okay.  Instead of them saying it is okay-I want to see the results for myself,” Stivers said.

The superintendent said he would share results with parents.  If families with hypersensitive children feel the need to delay their school start due to mold, the district will send lessons home just like an extended illness.

The air inside the rooms cleaned of mold must test as clean or cleaner than outside air to pass.