The lawyer representing five CedarBridge Academy teachers who claim they became sick from mould at the senior secondary school says his clients would not return to the school in January until they receive independent verification that it is safe for them to return.

And Paul Harshaw of Lynda Milligan-Whyte & Associates warned that his clients would launch legal action against the Ministry of Education if they are punished for failing to return to their jobs at the start of the new school term in January next year.

Mr. Harshaw?s warning came as Education Minister Randy Horton announced at a press conference that Government had spent about $4 million ridding CedarBridge of high levels of Aspergillis Versicolor and Stachybotrys mould.

Mr. Horton said Government Health Officials and independent scientists from the Pan-American Health Organization/World Health Organization (AHO/WHO) had given CedarBridge a clean bill of health and said the school was now fit to be reoccupied by staff and students. The Minister was asked if there was any evidence that staff, teachers or students at the school had experienced health problems because of their exposure to the mould.

?No not at all, however that is something that will have to be determined and that will be determined when any teachers who have come up with any problems recently go to their doctors.

:Then they will work with the Department of Environmental Health to see whether there are any connections between the problems they are having and any problems in the building,? he replied.

Mr. Harshaw, however, accused the Minister of misleading the public and said the Ministry of Education had documentary evidence that the CedarBridge building had made teachers sick.

?I know of at least four teachers who have been made sick by that building and the Ministry of Education has medical evidence of that.

?So the Minister is sadly misinformed if he is saying that he has no evidence at this time of teachers who have been made sick,? he said.

Mr. Harshaw said his clients would demand independent verification despite the fact that scientists from AHO/WHO had agreed that the school is fit for reoccupation. He said: ?The issue of course is testing one day and getting a good result on one day is no guarantee that the problem has been fixed. If they haven?t fixed the problem correctly then two or three days down the road we will be right back where we started with teachers falling ill and unable to teach.

?This is why we want the evidence. We want two separate tests, 28 days apart, so that we can have a reasonable satisfaction that a building that we know was unsafe previously is now safe. There is no reason that the teachers should be forced to accept the word blindly of Ministry officials.?

The president of the Bermuda Union of Teachers, Anthony Wolffe, however, threw his support behind Government?s decision to reopen the school in January.

He said the union had asked for an independent assessment of CedarBridge and was pleased when the Government agreed that scientists from AHO/WHO could inspect the building.

?The union is satisfied that the building is safe to go back into. We had a walk through the school on Tuesday of this past week and we also met with AHO/WHO officials. We are satisfied and support the Ministries efforts to open the school,? he added. The Minister said the clean-up efforts at CedarBridge included the removal of water-damaged ceiling tiles, carpets, acoustic wall panelling, cabinets, bulletin boards and dry erase boards. Extensive air conditioning coil cleanings were also conducted.

?Any materials that were damaged were removed from the facility. All classroom surfaces and classroom contents were HEPA vacuumed and cleaned by wet swipe disinfection methods. Surfaces were specially treated to reduce mould growth. The contents of students? lockers were also HEPA vacuumed,? he explained. Mr. Horton said there were still very low levels of mould at CedarBridge. However, he said this should not concern parents, teachers or students.

?The public needs to appreciate and understand that there is mould in every situation. There is mould wherever you are. Mould is a necessary part of the environment and what is important here is that the level of mould inside CedarBridge will be less than what is in the environment outside of the building.

?Where there would be concern would be if the mould inside the building is higher than the mould outside the building.

?The public can take comfort in the fact that we received this assurance not just from our health officials but also from the scientists of the Pan American Health Association,? he explained. The Minister confirmed that all schools buildings would be tested to ensure that students, teachers and staff are not being exposed to unusually high levels of mould.

He said the Government is committed to ensuring that the mould problem at CedarBridge never happens again. ?In our unwavering commitment to ensure that CedarBridge Academy remains a healthy and safe environment for its staff and students, a maintenance programme at the school will be diligently followed.?

Mr. Horton said a three-member panel would next month conduct an independent review of the history of the mould problem at CedarBridge.

?The panel will consist of three people; the Chair will be an overseas expert, Dr. Kamoji Wachiira, who is currently a Senior Fellow at the Consensus Building Institute.

?He will be assisted by two Bermudian advisors, Mr. Walton Brown and Mr. William Madeiros. The review is set to begin next month and is expected to be completed within six to eight weeks, after which recommendations will be shared with the public.? Mr. Horton said Ruth Seaton James Auditorium, which is located on the CedarBridge campus had not been cleaned as yet and would remain closed until further notice. Teachers are scheduled to begin work at CedarBridge on Tuesday, January 2, 2007, while students are to report for classes on Wednesday, January 3. Students are advised that classes will begin on the ?Wednesday? schedule, and they are required to be dressed in full winter uniform by Monday, January 8.