One student almost died and at least 13 others suffered illnesses which were “very probably” caused by mould infestation at CedarBridge Academy, a shocking new report reveals.

An independent panel interviewed almost 100 people in connection with the mould crisis which led to the Island’s largest public school being closed last November, with one mother describing how she almost lost her son to respiratory failure.

The hard-hitting dossier produced by the panel and made public by Education Minister Randy Horton yesterday details how the problem, known about since 2000, spiralled due to apparent long-term denial by the school’s senior management.

It reveals a climate of fear in which teachers and parents were afraid to speak out and a catalogue of mistakes and incompetence, dating back to the building of the school 13 years ago, which allowed the mould to prosper.

Principal Kalmar Richards was alleged by many teachers who spoke to the panel to have moved her own daughter’s class from a room suspected to have mould but allowed two other classes to use the same room. The panel describes the claim as “disturbing”, along with reports that substitute teachers were sent to work in rooms already “declared suspect” and closed off to regular teachers. “These two actions by the administration undermined the teachers’ trust and expectations of compassionate and fair treatment for all,” says the report. It describes how “the CBA administration seemed to deny over a long period that there were any serious IAQ (indoor air quality) or mold problems”. It says: “This attitude was unfortunate since useful early-warning indicators (‘canaries in the mine’ as it were) of a looming crisis ... were missed altogether.”

Claims of ill health by students and staff other than teachers were “understated significantly” by the time the school was shut down on November 1, according to the panel.

“Our findings indicate that in addition to teachers, a significant number of students had medically documented respiratory illnesses very probably caused by exposure to mold,” says the report.

“The panel interviewed 14 students claiming to have respiratory and other allergies. The panel noted that, unlike teachers, students and support staff had little access to communication channels for expressing their health concerns. They thus remained below the radar.”

The review uncovered a complaint made by staff at the school in 2000 about “suspect air” and found that other claims of illness dated back to 2001 and 2002.

But some teachers were afraid to come forward, according to the panel, “due to consequences to careers often implied by the CBA administration”. Many parents, says the report, feared jeopardising their children’s education by being too vocal.

“The panel found no reason whatsoever to doubt that at least some individuals (teachers, students and support personnel) had serious allergic reactions and other health impacts.

“Several individuals interviewed were visibly quite ill and in two cases emotionally affected by the experience. One parent described a very trying experience of almost losing her son to respiratory failure while another, a former teacher, described to the panel having to quit teaching at CBA to escape so-called ‘CBA-allergies’ which were jeopardising her pregnancy.”

The report urges that a comprehensive study of factors affecting the health of CedarBridge’s 1,000-plus population be conducted and recommends that if evidence shows illnesses were caused by mould “the relevant agencies must be ready to respond humanely and according to existing legal protections”. It stresses that until the study is completed the cause of the allergic reactions cannot be stated with certainty.

The panel — comprised of overseas environment specialist Kamoji Wachiira and locals William Madeiros and Walton Brown — discovered that many of CedarBridge’s indoor air quality problems were due to the faulty design and construction of the Devonshire school in the mid-1990s, under a United Bermuda Party Government. “There is strong evidence that in 1997 MOE (the Ministry of Education) and the CBA Board of Governors took over a building which, while strikingly beautiful on the outside, had significant functional and construction problems,” says the report.

Mr. Horton told the House of Assembly yesterday: “There was a time when such findings would instantly give rise to political point scoring. However, I, as Minister with responsibility for education, have determined to start a new era in the history of this country whereby public education will not be used a political football.”

The panel — which conducted its review from January 7 to March 5 this year after the school reopened following a $4 million mould clean-up — said that at least $2.5 million should be set aside each year to look after the building and “conservatively” estimated the cost of the “cumulative state of disrepair” of the school over the last ten years as $25 million.

The panel discovered that the school’s facilities manager Ross Smith, who has since left CedarBridge, did not have the qualifications needed for the role, was offered the job “without the normal competitive recruitment procedures” while he was a member of the school board and did not then do the required training.

Other disclosures include that Mr. Horton closed the school — without consulting its board of governors—- on the recommendation of Rosemary Tyrrell, the then Education permanent secretary, two days after CedarBridge teachers threatened to strike. The school’s senior management and the board of governors both come in for heavy criticism from the panel and are described as having a “strained and rarely collaborative” relationship. The report says both bodies lack the attributes which would be needed to run the school if it were a private enterprise.

Government was described as being unable to handle the crisis due to inadequate expertise and was slammed for failing to communicate properly with teachers and parents.

Mr. Horton said yesterday that the CedarBridge crisis had led to “one of the most challenging periods of my career”. He added: “Clearly the fact that Bermuda was not well prepared for a situation of this magnitude is evident but as a result of the CedarBridge Academy experience, measures have been put in place to adopt a more proactive approach.

“We can waste time casting stones across the room and play the blame game on this matter or we can agree to move forward.”

Mrs. Richards was off the Island and could not be contacted for comment last night.

* See Monday’s edition of The Royal Gazette for more on the CedarBridge mould report.