Man renews concerns about school's health

Calling Edgerton Elementary School a "filthy cesspool" and claiming that "I have been lied to and ignored, hoping I'd just go away," Kalispell resident Darryl Iblings insisted Tuesday night that School District 5 trustees see to it that the school is cleaned up.

In a prepared statement highlighting his requests and frustrations over the past school year, he cited concerns about air quality, mice in the building and dirty restrooms.

He told the school board that Principal Rebecca Dahl and Superintendent Darlene Schottle did not respond as he expected, so he contacted the county health department.

"This was after six months of the district doing nothing when they said they were going to have the air quality at Edgerton tested," Iblings said.

"Why did we have to go to the health department before anything was done about our concerns?"

Iblings, a certified public accountant whose wife, Melanie, has taught at Edgerton for six years, asked for air-quality testing there last fall after she had undergone a battery of neurological and other medical testing last year.

Melanie Iblings, a third-grade teacher, had what her husband termed "red eye," severe headaches and blocked blood flow to the brain.

The couple compared notes with other Edgerton teachers reporting allergy-like symptoms that commenced with the start of school in the fall and ceased when school let out in June.

Darryl Iblings also referred to a staff member whose had two lumps diagnosed as environmentally caused fungi, and he cited 12 instances of cancer in staff members over the 18 years since Edgerton opened.

They suspected something unhealthy in the school environment.

He asked for air-quality testing at the school, which he claimed was never done.

Subsequent testing by a private company showed a problem with mice, although no "extreme rodent problems," and suggested steps which Iblings said the school did not take. He also pointed to roof leaks that he said were not fixed until he raised the issue with several school officials, and an air filtration system in dire need of cleaning.

"Apparently Mr. Iblings was not aware that there were work orders in at the time," Schottle said on Wednesday, but the size of the school's maintenance staff meant some of the work could not be completed as soon as he had hoped.

"We are aware that there are rodents" in the building, Schottle said, "and we did do some cleanup. There is an ongoing issue with mice there because of the adjoining field."

She said school officials are aware they need to follow steps suggested by a private pest control company, such as interior trapping, exterior bush trimming and concrete-crack sealing, and are doing so.

"I'm not looking to blame anybody," Iblings said, "all I want is some action. But until someone steps up and admits there is a problem, nothing will happen."

He talked with and e-mailed Dahl and Schottle, asking for test results, but was unhappy with delayed or no responses.

He took his concerns over testing to the health department on April 21, where he "accused the district of empty promises and lame excuses," he recounted in an April 27 letter to School Board Chairman Don Murray.

"Am I surprised by this attitude shown by these administrators? Not at all," his letter to Murray continued. "It fits the pattern of arrogance demonstrated by them towards the staff and community and their disregard for accountability for their actions."

On Tuesday night, Iblings spoke during the public comment portion of the school board's regular meeting. Since the issue was not on the board agenda, trustees held no discussion and took no action.

But Murray pledged that the issue would be scheduled for the board's next regular meeting in two weeks.

Schottle said she will ask facilities manager Chuck Cassidy for a summary of health testing done at the building and what the school is doing to address the problems.

In a separate issue raised during public comment, several neighbors of the old Courthouse East building raised their concerns about a mixed-use development proposal for the abandoned building that would bring both business and residential traffic to the area.

"It may be feasible to develop," neighbor Becky Groose Jones said, arguing against density that she said was triple the initial intent. "But we have to keep in mind that Hedges [School] was there first."

She and others urged the school board to support the continued residential character of the neighborhood during a public hearing planned by Kalispell City Council on Monday night.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com