By Chris Lundy and Alyssa Riccardi
TOMS RIVER – A parent posts about her child having to sit next to a garbage can filling with water from the ceiling. Pictures of mold circulate online. These things pop up from time to time since kids have cell phones and social media, and their parents are upset by the condition of schools. And then, in the span of days, there’s a photo of a sign of asbestos treatment being done and another of sewage in the hallway.
Parents have been vocal about the conditions of the schools, lighting up the internet with their comments about the buildings. It impacts students’ morale.
Regarding the asbestos photo, the picture shows a classroom in High School South completely closed off to staff and students, with a sign saying ‘danger asbestos.’
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to asbestos has been associated with adverse health effects such as lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma.
Mike Kenny, Coordinator of the Office of Grants and Communication, told JerseyShoreOnline.com said the district is currently working with the state to remove any asbestos found in rooms.
“Our contractor works with state-approved asbestos remediation vendors. Several HSS classrooms received remediation on old flooring that required this signage and testing. The rooms remain closed for construction and the signage is required by law – all proper safety protocols and air-quality testing has been completed, and all areas have passed inspection,” Kenny said.
Additionally, Kenny said this work takes places after hours when there are no students or staff in the building.
The photo of the sewage on the floor – also in High School South – happened because of a kid putting something down the drain that caused damage to the pipes, he said.
At a recent Board of Education meeting, Beachwood representative Melissa Morrisson brought up the asbestos and sewage photos. Beachwood kids go to South. She noted that staff have said they had to go off site to use restrooms.
“I know that things happen, but we have children in that building and staff in that building,” she said.
Superintendent Michael Citta said there was a toilet clogged and it temporarily shut down that area. They looked into bringing in a restroom facility that would link to the pipes. They first had to learn about whether that would make things worse. By the time that was researched, the initial problem was almost fixed.
As for the asbestos flooring, the district has done air quality monitoring to ensure safety.
“They are alarming signs but they are the required signs to be put up,” he said. “Work isn’t being done when kids are in the building.”
“It’s an older building. We would never put kids in harm’s way,” he said.
Toms River had a huge spike in residential growth throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and at one point, there was one school being built every year. All those schools are 40 years old now. The oldest, High School South, is over 70 years old, built on land that was being used by the district since the late 1800s.
Every month, Building and Grounds workers maintain or improve conditions. As it is June, they are gearing up for summer, when some of the more intensive projects are planned, officials said.
The district is being squeezed by reduced state funding that started in 2018. In 2019, voters approved a referendum that funded a number of improvements. Some of the progress is shown at trschools.com/community/referendum.
Meeting Change
Board members are on committees such as curriculum or finance. The discussion in this article took place at a committee meeting, which is when committee heads update everyone about their progress.
These meetings have been held online-only since COVID. It was announced that the next committee meeting will return to being held in person at the auditorium at High School North. Committee meetings are held a week before the official meetings. The schedule is at TRSchools.com.
