BENNETTSVILLE, SC (WBTW) – An inspection completed at Bennettsville Intermediate School earlier this year shows mold was found both inside and outside. G-E-L engineering made 18 recommendations at the end of May to the Marlboro School District about the mold.
Marlboro County School Board Member Nan Fleming said the only recommendation that has been fixed is the cleaning of the school.
“No one from the school district has come before the board and said we have X, Y, Z company who’s going to do this work,” Fleming said. “Nothing has been done because they’re saying there’s no mold.”
Fleming said if it was up to her, the children would have never gone back into the school in September.
“If one child gets sick, that’s too many,” she said. “Mold gets in your lungs and you just die!”
Brittany Stuckey’s 9-year-old daughter, Maria, attended Bennettsville Intermediate up until mid-October when Stuckey changed her schools. She said changing her daughter’s school made a world of difference in her little girl’s health.
“I went from having a child who couldn’t focus, with headaches, and stomach aches to a completely new child,” Stuckey said.
G-E-L Engineer Ronald Sharpe’s report showed mold was found in eight out of 12 surface swab samples of dust. The first recommendation given to the district listed on the report said normal custodial cleaning can be used to remove areas of surface mold inside of the classrooms.
The report states, “No mold remediation measures and/or actions are required inside the building.”
Read the complete mold report for Bennettsville Intermediate
However, Stuckey disagrees with this after she said her daughter’s medical records have doubled since she’s been at Bennettsville Intermediate.
“Her upper respiratory infections, I saw the sinus issues she had, the constant chronic headaches, stomachaches,” Stuckey said.
The evaluation also states, “No current conditions exist that warrant the evacuation, removal, and transfer of faculty and students.”
Fleming said she will always fight for the students and that the district needs to act sooner rather than later.
“I just feel like the district is going to be held liable, someone’s going to bring lawsuits against us,” said Fleming.
News13 reached out to the district for a statement, Public Information Director Dr. Henry Cobb, said the district does not have a statement.