UPDATED: Classrooms Flooded at D.H. Stanton After Pipe Bursts

PEOPLESTOWN — On Thursday, when the pre-K and kindergarten students returned to D.H. Stanton Elementary School, they were greeted with a wet mess.

Several classrooms flooded because of a coil on the energy recovery unit burst open, parent and neighborhood leader William Teasley told East Atlanta Patch.

"Atlanta Public Schools has confirmed the coil froze and split earlier this week on a rooftop water-sourced piece of HVAC equipment at D.H. Stanton Elementary," district spokeswoman Kimberly Willis Green, told Patch Friday.

"The APS Facilities Department immediately cleaned up the area and ordered repairs for the HVAC equipment."

The problem is a continuation of the old HVAC system Atlanta Public Schools has pledged to replace. But those plans were pushed back to 2015, when APS' redistricting of schools in 2012 and closure list included D.H. Stanton.

But the neighborhood has been pressing APS to fix the school's physical plant, which, in addition to the HVAC issues, has had problems with its roof.

The district made some repairs to the roof in November.

Both have led to mold concerns at D.H. Stanton and what that means for the health and safety of children and staff.

D.H. Stanton isn't the only APS school with concerns about mold; Washington High School parents in Cascade Patch have highlighted their own fears about their mold issues, too.
Mold is an issue, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, because it can cause a range of problems from throat irritations in healthy people to lung diseases in those, such as asthmatic children, who have compromised immune systems.

"D.H. Stanton also has a mold challenge because of the roof and HVAC that may be impacting students' health, especially those suffering from asthma," Teasley said. "Dr. [Clara] Taylor [school principal] has requested a mold study after seeing what under the ceiling tiles."