A Canberra high school was forced to wait for almost a year to remove potentially toxic mould from one of its classrooms, despite repeated requests to the ACT Education Directorate for assistance.
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Students at Calwell High School were unable to access their computer lab for several months due to health concerns from hidden mould.
The mould was first discovered at the school in late 2016 but was not fixed until October 2017.
Emails from the school's business manager Elissa East to the directorate, obtained by the Sunday Canberra Times, said students were unable to access technology due to repairs to the school's library.
"The room is now unsafe for any staff or students to enter...the problem has now become bigger than the school can diagnose," Ms East said.
"This is a health issue in the school, this technology room cannot be used, which is heavily affecting our students.
"Most of our students do not bring technology to school as they cannot afford it and the school provides technology."
After a complaint was made about the computer lab was made to the directorate in late 2016, an inspection of the classroom was carried out on December 15, which found no evidence of mould.
The inspection noted the carpet was dry to touch, with only a "low-grade odour" in the room.
Emails stated the situation in the classroom became worse over the summer holidays.
The directorate suggested in February 2017 the school engage a mould-cleaning company to remove the mould from the classroom, however the school said it could not afford the $4000 the company quoted for the work to be carried out.
The school made further requests to have the mould removed in August 2017, saying the issue had become worse.
"We discovered a filing cabinet was covering some carpet that was mouldy underneath. We removed the mouldy carpet and those carpet tiles close to it and the filing cabinet," Ms East said.
"We have since tried to air the room regularly, had the carpets cleaned again and removed portions of the carpet over the holidays. None of these solutions have eased the smell."
Another inspection of the computer lab carried out in September found mould in the glue attaching the carpet to the floor, but the school said the cost to repair and recarpet the room was out of the school's budget.
According to the emails, it was only when part of the directorate's infrastructure and capital works budget was redirected to the high school in late September that the work to remove the mould was carried out in October.
A directorate spokesman said $3900 was reimbursed to the school for the replacement of the damaged carpet.
"Under the school operational allocation funding model, schools are to initially fund repairs and maintenance to their buildings," the spokesman said.
"On the occasions where the school does not have capacity to pay, the directorate can reimburse the school on application.
"The issue was a damp smell, which came and went intermittently. The school managed it via their own resources until the decision was made to recarpet."
