Hello to all,

My name is Corey McFarlane and I am a concerned parent at Vienna Elementary school. I have 2 children in the Dorchester County Public School system. One who attended the beloved Vienna Elementary, but moved onto middle school and one who is still there. During our time at Vienna there have been concerns about my children's health which have turned to countless days missed, appointments, research and phone calls to get to the bottom of it all.

After many sticks to discover allergies and countless calls home regarding my children coughing to the point of asthma attacks I have learned that my children are highly allergic to mold. Their allergies trigger their asthma which is considered reactive airway vs. wheezing and the cough and sickness becomes instantly unmanageable within hours.

My daughter is currently on six medications twice daily just to be able to go to school. All summer, not one issue…as SOON as she walks through the door the trouble begins. From a study in 2004: The report linked mold spores to allergies and asthma, noting asthma was the "number one cause of chronic school absences, accounting for as many as 3 million missed school days a year."

As a parent, it sickens me to have to send her to school because instead of going to learn and fall in love with learning or enjoying her day…she can’t breathe. She cries daily in pain and it’s ALL regarding her health. Her allergies make it hard to breathe, her cough keeps her up all night and day, her stomach has pain in her abdomen from the muscles being overworked during asthma attacks. This is not ok. Not ONE time all summer or within one week of being out of the school does she have a single issue. I do not feel that I should have to homeschool or go into debt for private school because of the boards lack of putting a plan in action.

Not to mention, when she gets into the car after school everyday this past week she has been drenched with sweat from the school being so hot. This overly warm temperature also triggers her asthmatic response. It takes 1-3 days for the normal person to recover from a mold reaction, those with health issues longer. The weekends can’t even be enjoyed because by the time it’s over we might be feeling a tad better just for it to backslide on Monday.

My son also struggled immensely. He would cough and struggle the same way she did and not only did he have struggles with personal health issues…being up all night with asthma attscks and hospital visits only amplified ALL of his other issues he struggled with making it near impossible for the teachers to execute their job as well as him. Since leaving Vienna - not one more issue.

You know that when a child cannot go to school and stay feeling well, get adequate sleep, learn to love education, enjoy their day in a clean comfortable environment that they are essentially being set up to fail. I as well as many others feel that if this was happening in the BOE office they would surely have it fixed ASAP.

Our children and staff at Vienna deserve better then what they are being given. They deserve a chance to thrive, to figure out their dreams, and to be healthy in doing so. Besides the fact that it would produce better attendance numbers, better test scores and less disciplinary issues the bottom line is it’s a HEALTH HAZARD.

There is VISIBLE mold on ceilings…in fact when discussing a potential health plan for my daughter the condensation from the mold was dripping on the teacher in which I was speaking to…this 100% triggered me to speak up because enough is ENOUGH.

There was a carpet I personally know of that had a septic flood cover it and was not replaced for nearly 8 years…do you realize what was probably growing in that without proper ventilation? Unbeknownst to me, until now, my daughters most SICK year was the year in that class…the smell of the school screams mildew/mold.

They do not have working air in all of the classrooms and what is there is certainly not doing what is needed. I could go on but urge the board to get to a solution before I have to get to the point of pressing this issue further.

It has been made aware to me the funding has been delegated and appropriated for the new hvac within our school. Besides all of the issues mentioned above by now most of us are well aware that combating Covid 19 is best done through air filtration. That should be reason enough to push forward in fixing this issue.

Regardless of the fact it’s been made aware to me and many others eventually the board wants to do away with Vienna - it doesn’t dismiss the fact that the money is there and the ball needs to be rolling on getting the air quality better for the staff and students.

I am speaking on behalf of over 25 parents who have personally spoken to me, MANY staff members and I’m sure so many others who have not been made aware of this yet with grave concern much like my own.

My questions to the BOE we’re as followed; what is the real hold up? Do you actually intend on fixing this issue? We, the concerned staff and parents want to know what would take 2 years from the time the money was made available  to lock in an engineer and have a timeline for a plan? What is your plan? What is your timeline? Who is the contracted engineer firm who will be handling this for certain?

I also understand the BOE wants to install another metal detector at another school however, there is already a killer in one of their schools, mold…let’s handle that first???

To add in closing, the staff at Vienna is TOP of the line. By staff I’m referring to everyone from the janitors on up. In no way is this a custodial issue as I run a VERY successful cleaning business myself and I could scrub all day to rid of mold, it’s not going to stop or change a thing without proper air and filtration in place.

Please help. Please do what’s deserved and right. By signing this petition you will be not only proving the point that VES needs this new air system with money that has already been given and planned to use for this reason. Don’t let your children suffer at the hands of those who don’t care!

If you would also like to see change or have personally been affected by this negligence like my family has and even if not and you just want to see better for someone you love or happen to know…please sign.