EDUCATION

Special needs school not moving despite toxin concerns

The Town Talk

A school for students with special needs won't be moving anytime soon, despite concerns raised by the discovery of toxins on the playground and pleas from teachers over the past several months.

At their last meeting, Rapides Parish School Board members voted 5-3 not to move students from the campus on Crepe Myrtle Street in Pineville and to install swings and an outdoor play area elsewhere on the property so students can still go outside.

The decision comes after months of limbo for Rapides Training Academy, where soil testing conducted a year ago by the Environmental Protection Agency revealed the presence of dioxins.

The area behind Rapides Training Academy where dioxins were discovered was fenced off last year.

Although she was the only one who spoke publicly Wednesday, Lisa Bordelon said teachers are worried about their health and their students' health and want to move.

"Please be aware that we are concerned," she told board members. "I know we don't have a school performance score, and we're not a big important school, but I think we deserve to be equally treated as they are."

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Rapides Training Academy serves about 60 students who have severe cognitive challenges and are mostly nonverbal. Many of them live at St. Mary's, a residential home run by the Diocese of Alexandria.

About 60 students with special needs attend Rapides Training Academy on Crepe Myrtle Street in Pineville.

Bordelon said she wasn't planning to address board members, but felt someone had to.

"I love the children that I work with who are disabled. They cannot speak for themselves, so someone has to speak for them," she said. "Maybe their parents don't know they go to a school where there are contaminants in the backyard."

What the EPA found

Dioxins were discovered behind Rapides Training Academy, including on the playground, after the EPA conducted soil samples in February and June of 2016.

The testing was done in response to concerned citizens' complaints about Kisatchie Treating, which is located behind the school.

After the discovery of dioxins, the EPA wrote a letter advising school officials to keep children away from the playground until the contamination could be addressed.

Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system and can interfere with hormones, according to the EPA's website.

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In the letter, the agency also shared the results of air samples taken which found the presence of naphthalene, described as a probable human carcinogen, was potentially higher than the EPA's long-term screening values, but below the state regulatory standard.

The agency conducted more testing indoors and reported dust wipe samples from areas students and staff would come in contact with contained semi-volatile compounds and dioxins that "did not exceed the non-cancer screening level or the cancer risk range used by the EPA."

Community reaction

Angelina Iles, head of Pineville Concerned Citizens and member of a citizens group formed to tackle environmental issues, lives down the street from Rapides Training Academy.

Iles defended the board's decision, saying she has never felt that her health was in jeopardy because of where she lives.

"I think this thing has been just hyped up by people that really don't know what's going on," she said.

Like the school, her house is nearby Kisatchie Treating, so Iles said she monitors air quality reports for the area and environmental issues.

"I have always felt safe (living here)," she said.

For sentimental reasons, Iles is concerned that the presence of a school remains in her community. She said she will fight any more efforts to relocate students from the campus, which first opened as J.S. Slocum High School.

Velda Williams LaCour said Slocum opened 50 years ago this fall.

"I wouldn't want to endanger anybody ... but I would like to see the school (remain there)," agreed LaCour, a member of the school's first graduating class.

Uncertain future still

Board members, however, started exploring the possibility of selling the Crepe Myrtle Street property and moving students after the district brought up concerns about recurring flooding issues at the school and public perception after testing was completed.

They were presented with wide range of options for RTA students by the district, but none were seriously discussed by the full board, after a committee recommended keeping students at RTA.

Other alternatives included sending students to zoned schools, moving them to empty classrooms in Hadnot-Hayes Elementary or making use of portable buildings for classrooms, with the option of moving them to a couple different locations.

At some point, those may be revisited. Board President Keith Breazeale acknowledged Wednesday that could be the case if the situation changes.

"I don't think this is a solution that's going to stand the test of time," he said.

The school's board representative Willard "Bubba" McCall told The Town Talk the meeting wasn't the last time the board will hear from him on the issue.

McCall, along with Sandra Franklin and John Allen, voted against keeping students on the campus. One board member, Darrell Rodriguez, was absent and did not vote.

Rapides Training Academy Principal Deidra Anderson told The Town Talk earlier this year that although she and her staff were assured toxins and pollution in the air did not pose any risks, they were supportive of plans to move.

"I think everybody here is to the point now, if we can't go outside ... let's go to a place where the kids have that opportunity," Anderson said at the time.

The Town Talk unsuccessfully attempted to reach Anderson and EPA officials for comment.