The first is a letter from Steamatic of St. Louis...the company that performed the clean-up project. This letter was sent home via Bennett Elementary School students to their parents/guardians. I'll let you form your own opinions about the information contained in the letter and the assurances given...

However, it is apparent from the letter, that the company was hired/directed to clean two identified rooms...ones with an obvious mold presence. In talking to employees at Bennett Elementary, there appears to be doubt whether adjoining areas were properly inspected...on the second floor AND on the first floor below the rooms in question. One would certainly not be surprised that if the problem was caused by a steam leak under the building that climbed to the second floor...that it might just make its presence known in the rooms between. I noticed when I was there today, that there is a false ceiling in the rooms in question. Were those tiles removed and the space inspected? When the high school had its problems, the false ceilings concealed huge growths of mold even though the tiles themselves did not appear soiled.

The above letter refers to "areas within this scope of work" and "the areas included in this project" which could be interpreted to mean Steamatic was called in to clean two rooms...NOT to do an inspection of other areas. Surely, this was done...

The second document is a memo from Superintendent Gary Whitledge to Bennett Elementary Principal Rose Pickett, with a "cc" to the heads of the District's four unions...addressing concerns raised on behalf of the staff and students...

Superintendent Whitledge later clarified the memo, stating that the date of the memo was actually February 19th and that the contaminated rooms had been misidentified as 115 and 116 instead of 215 and 216.

The guidelines of this memo follow what was done at the high school during the gassing/mold situation there several years ago. Employees who felt that their health was being affected were allowed to report to the Central Office and they were NOT docked sick days. So, if you feel that your health is being compromised (as several have already sought medical advise/treatment), notify Principal Pickett so that arrangements can be made to cover your responsibilities while you report to the Central Office.