Letter from Parents' Association Co-Presidents Dale Bernstein and Judy Moore - September 2, 2002
Dear Parents,
Welcome back from your vacations. As the opening of school approaches,
we want to let you know the status of the cleanup of the Stuyvesant
building. We know that some of you have received messages from a group
called Concerned Stuyvesant Community (CSC) or have seen media reports based
on their message, and we want you to hear from your elected representatives.
As you know, the school was scheduled to be closed this summer to allow
the Department of Education (DOE) to clean the unit ventilators in each room
and the ducts in the central ventilation system. This cleanup is now
virtually complete. Both of the PA environmental consultants and the UFT's
experts agree that the work was done well and school is ready to open.
In the course of the cleanup it was discovered that the carpet in the
auditorium contained embedded asbestos, though air testing throughout the
year has not shown any significant level of airborne asbestos. At the
request of the PA, the carpet was removed according to strict asbestos
abatement protocols; the auditorium was sealed off, the seats were HEPA
vacuum cleaned, then covered with several layers of plastic before the
carpet was taken out. The seats were then re-vacuumed. The auditorium seats,
as well as the library carpet, were tested before the abatement and did not
show asbestos.
The PA Executive Board has requested further testing of the seats,
curtains and carpeting in both the principal's office and library. However,
the kind of testing being requested by the Executive Board is not acceptable
to the CSC and they are organizing protests on September 5th and 6th to
request that a particular kind of test, ultrasonication, be used. This test
was used by Howard Bader to test the auditorium carpet, but is not in
widespread use. Mr. Bader reported that there is no data base or standard
attached to this test. The lack of a data base means that there is no way of
knowing how the seats or carpets at Stuyvesant would compare with any other
upholstered material anywhere. While the PA is requesting further testing,
it should be noted that the library and the principal's office were closed
off during the post 9/11 cleanup so are less likely to show significant
levels of asbestos.
In addition to the scheduled protests, Paul Edwards and the CSC have
hired a lawyer, Joel Kupferman, and have told the DOE that they will
consider seeking an injunction to prevent Stuyvesant from opening if their
demands are not met. We find this action IRRESPONSIBLE. Last year our
children experienced an unavoidable relocation to Brooklyn Tech under
previously unimaginable conditions. This summer there has been a $3 million
dollar cleanup and the school is ready for re-occupancy, even if the
auditorium and /or library has to be temporarily sealed off for further
testing or work.
We believe that the reaction of the CSC is vastly out of proportion to
the situation existing at Stuyvesant. They have disrupted the Orientation
for new parents and students in June, have leafleted the incoming students
at their Orientation on August 28th, and have issued a press release stating
that there is a contingency plan to return to Brooklyn Tech. No such
contingency plan ever existed. Any delay or disruption of the opening of
school just prior to the September 11th anniversary will only intensify
anxiety and serve no useful purpose.
We believe that any remaining environmental work necessary at Stuyvesant
can be done without any disruption to classes and that we should return the
focus to the quality of our children's education. We look forward to seeing
you at the next PA general meeting and potluck dinner on September 17th.
Sincerely,
Dale Bernstein and Judy Moore
P.S. Please share this message with any parents who may not have e-mail
addresses listed in the Stuyvesant Directory, and remember to check the PA
website, www.stuypa.org, for updates.
