This story by Liz Sauchelli was first published by the Valley News on Sept. 18.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — After recent testing showed lower levels of toxic fumes in the air, the Hartford School Board has voted to reopen 12 classrooms that Hartford High School had discontinued using.
In June, air quality tests showed high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, better known as PCBs, in classrooms located in the high school’s B wing. Two of the 12 classrooms that were tested showed that the level of PCBs exceeded the “immediate action level” for occupation, as defined by state law.
Despite not being tested, the 10 other classrooms were closed, because they fit a similar profile to the two that exceeded the “immediate action level,” according to the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. They were built with similar types of construction materials known to contain PCBs, including caulk.
PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979 because they can cause damage to the body’s nervous, immune, reproductive and endocrine systems, among other health effects. In 2021, the state Legislature passed Act 74, which mandated testing in response to concerns about the legacy of toxic chemicals.
The affected rooms had previously been designated to be at the “school action level,” where students and educators are allowed to use the space, albeit for a limited amount of time each day.
The decision at Wednesday night’s meeting was based on results from testing in the classrooms at the start of the school year.
Hartford School District Director of Facilities Jonathan Garthwaite reported that all of the classrooms that were retested had lower levels of PCBs in the air than they did in June.
“We’ve had higher concentrations in the air” when there are higher humidity levels and temperatures, Garthwaite said during the School Board meeting.
“I think it is safe to say we can expect that trend to continue,” he said. “We have higher readings when it’s warmer and we have lower readings when it’s cooler.”
School Board member Kevin “Coach” Christie, who participated in the meeting remotely, asked Garthwaite how much control the district’s HVAC system has of keeping temperatures in classrooms at levels necessary to minimize the amount of PCBs in the air.
“Frankly … nobody knows what (the temperature) is,” Garthwaite said. “We know there’s a correlation between temperature, relative humidity and airborne concentration, but it’s a correlation.”
The high school is running its ventilation systems “as hard as we can,” he said. “We can’t do anymore.”
The high school does not have an air conditioning system, he added.
With the loss of 12 classrooms, Hartford School District administrators moved educators to different spaces. While they made it work, it was not ideal, Hartford High School Principal Nelson Fogg said during Wednesday night’s meeting. Teacher and student advisory groups had to share space.
There are also 21 teachers teaching who are forced to change classrooms throughout the day, which can impinge on instructional time.
“Our staff are getting to their rooms just as or after students are,” Fogg said. “Our teachers are telling us they’ve struggled to build a classroom community as they move from space to space.”
Before voting, School Board member Cathy Lemire asked Fogg if any staff members had approached him with concerns about reoccupying the 12 classrooms.
“Our staff has not suggested in any way that they’re concerned about moving back into them,” Fogg said. “I would suggest quite the opposite.”
Meanwhile, classrooms in the Hartford Area Career and Technical Center, including those used by the culinary arts program, remain off limits for the second school year in a row due to high PCB levels.
