The Royal Gazette can today lift the lid on a string of deficiencies found at CedarBridge Academy and listed in a shocking report sent to the school more than three months ago.

The Island’s largest public school — which is less than ten years old — was found by experts from the US to have a contaminated atmosphere which contained potentially harmful fungi, mould and bacteria which was clogging up the air conditioning systems and being recirculated around the building.

That mould, according to some teachers, is at the root of health problems suffered by as many as 20 members of staff and is the reason the school was closed by new Education Minister Randy Horton on Wednesday evening.

Experts from Microbiology Specialists Inc., a laboratory based in Houston, Texas, were called in to assess the school earlier this year and issued their findings in a report sent to school facilities manager Ross Smith on July 28.

Ten days earlier the company had written to local firm TES Ltd, understood to have been contracted to assess the school by Bermuda Water Consultants, stating that potentially dangerous aspergillus versicolor spores had been found in samples taken at CedarBridge.

That letter noted that aspergillus versicolor and another fungus found on the premises, penicillium spp, were “potentially pathogenic, hazardous or harmful fungi which may require urgent risk management”.

Allergy to aspergillus is common in asthmatics. Last year asthma reached epidemic levels in Bermuda, affecting about one in six of the population.

The year before one in ten high school students were thought to be sufferers.

The letter to Mr. Smith urged the school to tackle the environmental health problems during the summer break.

“This is a very large undertaking for the month of August,” wrote Paula Vance, vice-president of Microbiology Specialists. “However, I believe with integration of services and skills and team work that much of it is ‘doable’, if not all.”

It was not clear last night whether the report’s recommendations were carried out during the summer. New Education Minister Randy Horton would only say yesterday that work to tackle environmental health issues at the building had been going on for three months.

Ms Vance wrote that the school, the Ministry of Education and the Board of Governors seemed to understand the potential for the problem to escalate and were genuinely concerned for the teachers, staff and students as the new school year approached.

“The issues at CedarBridge Academy will not be corrected overnight but there are many things that we can do to mitigate and even improve the air quality and protect the structure from further damage,” she said. “The problems at CedarBridge can be mitigated in time to start school.”

The report explains that the school is suffering from “water intrusion” which is causing an “indoor air quality” problem. It recommends thorough cleaning of the school’s air-conditioning units and areas where mould can be seen and water is known to be leaking in.

Ms Vance said that many windows in the school have gaps allowing water and hot air into the building and that there are cracks in the building’s exterior.

She also cited turning off the air-conditioning on nights, weekends and during the summer as causing the ceiling tiles to become contaminated.

“Proper ventilation, circulation and dehumidification seem to be the main issues causing the build up of moisture and contamination,” she wrote.

The assessment of the school also uncovered hygiene issues, including a “filthy” kitchen which “would not pass any kind of inspection by the health department food services division”.

Ms Vance said Mr. Smith was “appalled at the conditions and planned to address part of this on Monday, July 17 with the company he had hired to clean at the end of the school year”.

A room by room analysis is then included in the document, detailing areas for concern.

This reveals leaking walls and a potentially leaking roof; an “extremely filthy” drama room with “food and trash everywhere”; a “filthy” design and technology room; a “pungent vinegar, Greek olive oil dressing smell” in the ensemble room; contaminated curtains in the gymnasium where students’ respiratory systems are already under strain and dirty, rusting ceiling fans which don’t work.

Ms Vance acknowledged that tackling the deficiencies might seem insurmountable but added: “It is my opinion that the costs will not be so astronomical if proper management and scheduling are used.”