Superintendent’s Message, Friday, September 21, 2018

Dear Beacon City School District Community:

In my  “Air Quality Update- Beacon High School” email on September 14 I said that we would do air quality testing throughout Beacon High School and that we would share the results with you.  Adaptive Environmental Consulting tested seven different locations, either hallways or classrooms, throughout Beacon High School on Monday, September 17 and then repeated the testing on Wednesday, September 19.  All results came back with low amounts of mold and a Satisfactory air quality rating.  ServPro will continue to clean the theater in the high school and we will update you when that work is complete.

Again, thanks for your patience and support as we work through this.

Sincerely,

Matt Landahl

Superintendent Message:  September 14, 2018

Dear Beacon City School District Community:

I am writing to provide another update on air quality at Beacon High School.  Yesterday, we noticed some mold growth on some of the cloth seats in the Beacon High School theater.  We had the theater visually inspected today by the industrial hygienist we have been working with from Adaptive Environmental Consulting and he concurred with our assessment.  

We want to take care of this as quickly as we can so we are going to close off this space for the next two-three weeks so we can run powerful dehumidifiers for an extended period of time and have cleaners from ServPro clean every seat and treat other surfaces in the theater.  The reason we are closing the theater is so that the folks from ServPro can work uninterrupted during this timeframe. The Beacon Players will be able to rehearse in our gyms during this period of time.  I apologize for the inconvenience this will cause people.

We will continue to test for air quality throughout the high school and share those results with you.  We will also continue to work with our air chiller in the high school to see what adjustments or fixes need to be done to help mitigate this in the future.

We have a great start to the school year and thanks for your support!

Thanks and have a good weekend.

Matt Landahl

Superintendent Message: September 12, 2018

Dear Beacon City School District Community:

I am writing the community as a follow up to my communications from Friday, September 7th regarding air quality in some classrooms at Beacon High School and J.V. Forrestal Elementary.

Over the long weekend, ServPro cleaned rooms 6-12 in Forrestal Elementary.  These rooms included three fourth grade rooms, two third grade rooms, art, and OT/PT.  ServPro also cleaned rooms D147 art, D149 art, D151 art, D153 art, D155 music, D157 chorus and D163 band room at Beacon High School.

Air quality tests were performed in those locations after the cleaning and the results of the tests at both locations were Satisfactory.  We started putting dehumidifiers and air filters in rooms today and we should have all installed by the end of this week.

We will work with Dutchess BOCES or an outside company to complete air quality tests in these locations a few more time this year and in all of our school buildings throughout the year as well.  We need a little more time to develop that plan but once we have it we will communicate that with the public. Thanks for your support.

Sincerely,

Matt Landahl

Superintendent Message:  September 7, 2018 (2)

Dear Beacon City School District Community:

I apologize for another email but I wanted to provide an additional update before the long weekend begins.

It came to my attention today that two downstairs classrooms at J.V. Forrestal Elementary had mold develop in windowsills and some of the edges of desks one morning a few weeks ago.  It was wiped down immediately the day it was found and did not return. Since it was reported today, we inspected all of the downstairs classrooms in Forrestal with people from ServPro this afternoon.  We did find small amounts of mold in rooms 6-12 (fourth grade classrooms, third grade classrooms, and art). We will have ServPro clean all of those rooms on Monday, September 10. We will also install HEPA air filters and dehumidifiers in those rooms next week.  We will test the air quality after the cleaning and share those results with you when we have them.

Art teachers at Beacon High School have also asked us to check out their rooms over the weekend for cleaning so we will do that as well.

Again, thanks for your patience and have a good weekend.  Just a reminder, we do not have school on Monday for Rosh Hashanah!  

Sincerely,

 Matt Landahl

Superintendent Message:  September 7, 2018 (1)

Dear Beacon School District Community:

I am writing to let you know about an air quality issue that developed in 6 classrooms in Beacon High School the past three weeks and steps we have taken to remediate it.

On August 20, the Head Custodian at Beacon High School noticed some mold that developed overnight on desktops and other surfaces in four science rooms in the high school (rooms C127, C133, C135, C141).  He immediately notified our Director of Facilities Anthony D’Amato who started working with the BOCES Safety and Risk Coordinator Brian Colandrea. We believe that the mold developed in those four rooms due to the classrooms having many potted plants and aquariums.  That combined with the extremely high humidity outside helped to develop conditions for mold growth.

We hired an outside company, ServPro, to clean the four rooms over Labor Day weekend and we have ordered HEPA air filters and dehumidifiers for those rooms which will be in place at the beginning of next week.  We have already received the air quality tests from those four classrooms and the results came back Satisfactory with the recommendation that we install dehumidifiers and HEPA air filters in those rooms.

On Tuesday, September 4, staff at the high school noticed some mold growing on instrument cases in the closet of the band room (room D163 ) and underneath the risers of the Chorus room (D157).  Our own staff cleaned the instrument cases and furniture immediately. We will have the same company come in to clean those two rooms, and the Band/Chorus practice rooms which are in the same wing on Saturday, September 8 and Sunday, September 9. We will test the air quality and share those results with you as soon as we get them. ServPro did a thorough cleaning in our science classrooms and we know they will do the same in our band, chorus, and practice rooms.  We will also have HEPA air filters and dehumidifiers in these two rooms as well.

 Moving forward, we will do several things to continue to address this issue:

• Have engineers review our HVAC at the high school to make sure it can adequately deal with the high temperatures/high humidity we have experienced lately
• Conduct air quality tests at the high school three more times this school year in different locations as well as the affected areas  
• Conduct air quality tests at our five other schools to ensure air quality

 We will keep the community apprised as we work through this issue.  I hope you have a good weekend.

 Sincerely,

Matt Landahl

Dear Beacon City School District Community:

 I am thrilled to be starting another school year in Beacon.  It is such a distinct pleasure and privilege to be serving the Beacon community as the superintendent of schools.  I cannot wait to see all of our students on Wednesday, September 5th!

 My themes for the district this year focus on the ideas of Excellence, Equity, and Communication.  With that in mind, here are some things I am excited about this school year, some of my goals for the year, and meet the teacher night dates for each school.

 Things I am excited about for the upcoming year:

• Fourth grade instrumental music will begin for the first time ever later this fall as a result of the grant we won last June
• Rombout Middle School will have a fully 1:1 learning environment with every student receiving a Chromebook this fall
• Elementary students will experience Physical Education class every other day instead of two out of every six days
• Elementary class sizes are further reduced with the addition of three additional teachers
• Interactive teaching screens will be added to Rombout Middle School and Beacon High School
• Further planning and development of the Capital Project with construction the summer of 2019 on the Turf Athletic Field behind Beacon High School

 My goals for the upcoming year:

• Create and facilitate a student advisory council for the district
• Create and facilitate a strategic planning process including forming a strategic planning advisory committee
• Increase and improve the quality of district communication in a variety of formats
• Help to create building and department leadership teams including the participation of parents and community members
• Facilitate equity leadership work in the district
• Maintain a high level of community and staff engagement through open forums, individual conversations, and online tools

 I will be sharing more about these goals as the year progresses.

 Meet the Teacher Nights

• September 12- Rombout Middle School
• September 13- JVF, Glenham, Sargent
• September 20- Beacon High School
• September 27- South Avenue

Have a great first day and a great year!    

Matt Landahl