We, as a community, are concerned about indoor exposure to unsafe indoor levels of mold at St. James Elementary and demand that the Horry County Schools Board of Education hire a 3rd party testing lab to perform the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) test developed by the US EPA or equivalent surface sampling techniques as it has been acknowledged that air sampling alone simply does not provide accurate results in terms of the mold bioburden of a water-damaged building. We also expect the full report to be made public as part of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), along with their initial remediation strategies based off those results, in a timely manner.

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  We want the district to conduct a proper investigation to prove that our school(s) are a 100% safe from these potentially damaging mold spores by a hiring a 3rd party testing lab that is ISO 17025 certified to perform this testing (i.e. EM Lab P&K).
• We want a reputable engineer to be hired to locate and fix any source(s) of water infiltration found in all our SJE buildings and structures to prevent any reoccurrence.
• We want proper mold remediation guidelines to be prepared and presented by a Certified Industrial Hygienist.
• We want a mold remediation protocol to be properly enacted by HCS Facilities Department or an approved contracted 3rd party and periodically reviewed for its effectiveness by follow-up testing by the approved method listed above.
• We want more transparent communication from HCS District to all HCS parents and staff about any and all action step to be taken regarding mold in the schools.
  -Specifically, the dates/times/by whom/ where and why, prior to all stages that are to be completed.
• We want an investigation into the shutdown of our schools HVAC systems while school is not in session/attendance and how this could be affecting our current mold situation district wide.
• We want answers to our concerns as they are sent in via email, phone or letter, responded to and handled in a timely manner.

Thank you for your support!