Walcott, Bloomberg Put Rockaway Children At Risk

Because they just don't care:

Parents at a Sandy-battered school in the Rockaways were up in arms after learning mold was discovered in a building that city officials had assured them was safe.

The fungus, which can cause health problems, was found last month in a classroom on the third floor of Public School/Middle School 114 in Belle Harbor.

Experts said it was caused by a leaky radiator that damaged classroom floors — and not the five feet of water and sewage that flooded the Cronston Ave. school’s auditorium during the superstorm.
“It’s outrageous that seven months after the storm, we’re still finding out there’s still health hazards in our schools,” said Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Beach.) “They need to do a more extensive study to ensure they’ve found it all.”

An independent expert, hired by the United Federation of Teachers, also found high moisture levels in two classrooms on the second floor. The levels can lead to mold growth.

“It’s scary that our children were allowed to go back to a school that wasn’t properly cleaned and wasn’t properly tested,” said parent Dana Carioti, 33, of Belle Harbor.

“I’m really on the fence about sending my son back there in September,” she said.

The school was deluged with stormwater and sewage during Sandy. It reopened on Nov. 27 — less than a month after Sandy — despite parents concerns about the safety of the building.

The auditorium was closed shortly after when the teachers’ union found high moisture levels. The city reopened it after it was dried out with dehumidifiers.

City Department of Education officials said school buildings walloped by Sandy underwent visual and moisture tests before they were reopened. The union also tested the worst-hit schools.
The city will begin repairing the damaged floors at P.S./M.S. 114 this weekend, said Education spokeswoman Marge Feinberg.

“The school is safe,” she said. “Whatever repairs are required, we will do them.”

But parents, who have been battling asthma-causing mold in their homes since Sandy, said the city needs to properly test schools for the fungus.

“We’re just very, very concerned,” said Parent Teacher Association Co-President Irene Dougherty. “I’d like to think when I send my child to school, my child is safe.”

There's are old friend Marge Feinberg assuring us that the school is safe.

They always send her out on the bed bug cases too to assure parents there are no bed bugs in schools because schools do not have beds.

That the NYCDOE and City Hall do not care about the children or parents in Belle Harbor is quite clear.

All they cared about was getting that school building reopened as quickly as possible.

Now they refuse to conduct the tests necessary to see if the school is safe.

They always have refused to conduct these tests.

You see, these tests must show that the NYCDOE and City Hall have been putting kids and teachers at risk by sending them in to a sick building.

Parents should not only sue the NYCDOE and the City of New York over this, they should sue both Bloomberg and Walcott personally as well, for putting their children at risk.