An independent report into the CedarBridge Academy mould crisis was described last night as a “study in negligence and gross mismanagement” by Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons.

The former Opposition Leader said the damning document — produced by a three-member panel which probed the catastrophic chain of events which led to the school being closed last November — should lead to sackings and the immediate resignation of Education Minister Randy Horton.

But he told The Royal Gazette: “In Bermuda we simply don’t seem to hold people accountable or responsible in the way we should.

Anywhere else the Opposition wouldn’t even have to call for the resignation of a Cabinet Minister; they would have stepped down already.” His party colleague Louise Jackson, the Shadow Health Minister, described herself as “appalled and sickened” by the findings of the panel, led by overseas environment expert Kamoji Wachiira.

The panel interviewed 97 people about the crisis and discovered that at least 14 students were made sick “very probably” due to exposure to mould at the school, with one boy almost dying.

Some teachers and parents told the panel they did not dare speak out about health concerns because of fears about their career or child’s education.

Mrs. Jackson said: “It seems to me like a circle of fear in this country. The students are afraid and I said this months ago. We have a child that almost died. I had numerous calls from mothers telling me their children were ill.

“Teachers have just been treated terribly. Some of them will carry this as long as they live. A teacher had to quit teaching to escape the so-called ‘CBA allergies’ that were jeopardising her pregnancy. How many teachers’ careers have been interrupted and in some cases lost because of this situation?”

The Island’s largest public school was closed last November for a cleanup of mould contamination after teachers threatened to strike. The Wachiira Report reveals that the “remediation” work was originally expected to cost about $375,000 based on an estimate of $15,000 for 25 affected rooms.

But the cost spiralled to about $4 million after it shut down, with cleaning companies widening the scope of work and carrying out “probably unnecessary and expensive operations”, according to the panel.

Even so, the work itself only amounted to a “quick abatement” to allow students to return to the school in January and was not a “complete and thorough job once and for all”. The panel recommends a further thorough remediation after problems with the roof, walls, windows and air conditioning system are fixed this summer.

Dr. Gibbons said the Education Minister and his Ministry allowed the unnecessary work to be done, taking “the price through the roof”. “We wonder even at this point if the job has been done properly,” he said. “It’s going to be a very, very expensive and badly handled project.”

Paul Harshaw, a lawyer for three teachers who claim to have been made sick by mould at the school, said the report uncovered findings which could prove awkward for Government.

“There is a finding of fact that students and teachers and others at CedarBridge Academy would feel sick at CedarBridge and feel better when they were away from CedarBridge,” he said. “The natural conclusion would be that the problem was CedarBridge.

“What it says is that Government knew or ought to have known for many years that there was a problem and it shut its eyes to the fact. The report leads one to believe that (principal) Kalmar Richards knew for years and shut her eyes to the fact.”

The panel said the school administration “seemed to deny over a long period that there were any serious IAQ (indoor air quality) or mold problems”.

He said it was disturbing that former facilities manager Ross Smith had no qualifications for the post and that Mrs. Richards delegated responsibility for that area to a deputy principal who told the panel he was unsure what his role was.

Mr. Harshaw added that the report showed the school’s board of governors were “a bunch of political appointees who don’t necessarily have the wherewithal to fulfil their function in the way one would expect a board to”.

He also noted that the Ministry of Works and Engineering failed to assist the panel with technical verifications it needed for its inquiry. “If this means that Works and Engineering staff declined to assist the panel then this would appear to be an attempt by Government to frustrate the work of the panel it appointed,” he said.

George Scott, chairman of the school’s board of governors since January, described the Wachiira Report as a “way forward” and said many of its recommendations had already been acted upon, including determining the board’s responsibilities and conducting a study of factors affecting staff and student health.

That study, he said, did not find a link between the school environment and health problems, but another was likely to be done by the Department of Health.

“I can’t speak for others going back in the past,” he said. “I know what I’m doing and my responsibilities. We run things totally differently to how things were run in the past. There is an increased responsibility and an awareness of the responsibility. We run it like a normal business.”

He said teachers could now use an email address to contact all board members with concerns and that a general consultative committee and a health and safety committee were in operation.

Mr. Scott said of a claim in the report that Mrs. Richards moved her daughter from a class suspected of being infested with mould but allowed others to work there: “The principle had a different answer: it wasn’t due to the situation at the time, it was due to some other circumstances.”

The panel described the claim as “disturbing” and said the action, along with allowing substitute teachers to work in “suspect” classrooms, had undermined teachers’ trust.

Dr. Gibbons said: “If the stories are true about Kalmar Richards moving her child, I think that raises serious concerns about whether the principle has the best interests of the students and teachers at heart.”

Both he and Mrs. Jackson said the report’s finding that the original design and construction of the school 13 years ago was faulty, when their party was in power, was not backed up with scientific evidence.

* Are you a teacher, student or parent who has been involved in the CedarBridge mould crisis? To tell your story call Sam Strangeways on 278-0155 or email sstrangeways[AT]royalgazette.bm.