Petition seeks Halley's ouster
By: BETH BOTTIS 11/20/2003
NORTH KINGSTOWN- A petition is being circulated by a group of parents calling for the removal of Superintendent Dr. James Halley.
Though a definite date has not yet been set, parents plan to present the petition to the school committee and possibly the town council with the intentions of having Halley fired.
"We need to see what the town council and the school committee are going to do with the situation with the superintendent," said Lynda Avanzato, mother of a Stony Lane student and a local lawyer. "If they respond in a proper way we may be able to deter litigation. They need to step forward and address this."
School committee chairman Don Defedele said that the committee as a whole has not taken a formal position on the issue because it has not met yet, but that he personally is not supportive of removing the superintendent.
"Certainly the Superintendent is responsible for everything that happens in the school district," Defedele said. "In this instance we need to look and see if he did things that are inappropriate. A decision was made because of work that needed to be done. I'm not supportive of a petition."
Defedele said that he has not seen the petition, but that removal of the Superintendent would require a vote from the school committee.
"The committee will do what it sees fit," he said. "We can't act on something that is not in front of us."
Much of the recent surge of outrage towards the Superintendent originated from a number of problems with roof replacement projects at Davisville Elementary School and Stony Lane Elementary School.
Students were evacuated from Stony Lane on two separate occasions due to toxic fumes from the roof project.
On Friday Nov. 7 students were sent home early and one teacher was taken to South County Hospital by ambulance after she and three children became ill with symptoms that were consistent with exposure to the chemicals from an adhesive that was being used on the roof.
The chemicals, identified at that time by Fire Chief David Murray as Sarnacol 2170 and Olybond 500, were not supposed to be used while the building was occupied.
In a Viewpoint column in this issue, school committee chairman Defedele said, "The school department had taken extensive steps to ensure that students and staff were not present in the building."
Jim Larisa, assistant administrator of Occupational Safety for the state said that he was not even aware that OlyBond 500 was even being used at the school until he received the phone call saying that the school had been evacuated.
According to the website for the company that distributes Sarnacol 2170, Sarna or the Sarnafil Division, the chemical is a solvent-based contact adhesive, colored red for easy identification, that can be used to adhere the roof membrane product directly to a timber or concrete substance. In this instance, it was used to adhere the membrane to the concrete portions of the roof at Stony Lane.
The safety data sheet for Sarnacol 2170 identifies three special hazards for "man and environment," including it being highly flammable, harmful by inhalation and irritating to the eyes.
The safety data sheet advises the user of the product to have proper ventilation and instructs moving to fresh air in the case of accidental inhalation of vapors. Additionally, it says that if ventilation is insufficient, to wear respiratory protection.
OlyBond 500 according to the product's website, is a "dual component polyurethane adhesive." The technical data bulletin for the product also advises users to avoid breathing vapors and to use with adequate ventilation. It advises that anyone who has inhaled the product move to fresh air and administer oxygen if breathing is difficult.
It is unclear whether there was adequate ventilation at Stony Lane on Friday Nov. 7 when the building was evacuated. Fumes from Monday's evacuation appeared to have been remaining from Friday's incident and were determined to not be at a harmful level, and school resumed. Although the adhesives were being used on the outside, Larisa says that the fact that it was cold and the windows in the building were shut would have a big impact on ventilation inside the building.
According to Larisa the contractor and those involved in the project should be aware of the hazards of the chemicals as they are clearly outlined in the safety data sheets.
"The sheets outline the hazards and tell you exactly what precautions you need to take," Larisa said. "They tell you what you need to do and what not to do."
"It is the obligation of the contractor to make sure that he takes all safety precautions," Larisa said. "We are investigating the situation at the schools and Wayne Roofing Systems."
Telephone calls for comment were not returned by representatives for Wayne Roofing Systems by the Standard-Times' deadline.
One of the students at Stony Lane who was affected by the fumes also has a blood disorder that the situation at school appeared to have affected. His parents took him to Hasbro Children's Hospital on Friday Nov. 7 where it was discovered that his blood levels were abnormal.
In addition to the troubles at Stony Lane, Davisville Elementary School was closed for three days last month after debris and dust from the roof project there interfered with the safety of students and teachers and with the educational process as a whole because of noise disturbance.
The combination of the two recent problems in addition to a situation at Hamilton Elementary School last December when a number of students and teachers began complaining of headaches and sore throats from the roofing project there have prompted parents and some teachers to question why the projects were not completed during the summer.
Both Halley and Defedele say that the project was intended originally to be completed over the summer, but ran into a number of snags along the way which prevented that from happening.
"The decision had to be made to do it this year. That decision was made late this summer," Defedele said. "We moved forward with it. It's unfortunate that it has been an inconvenience to parents and teachers, but it needed to be done. We would have been criticized if the roofs had started leaking this winter."
"We did the best we could do under the circumstances," Halley said. "Unfortunately, we didn't do the roofs last summer as we had planned, but they needed to be done." Halley said that the school committee first approved the project this past February and it went through design in March. By April, a set of specifications had been laid out. Then, he said, for "any number of reasons a couple of items needed to be modified." The project was officially finalized on August 29.
Forest Park is the last of the schools slated to undergo the roof replacement project, and that has been taking place since last week.
Originally, a professional day was scheduled last Wednesday at Forest Park to allow work to be done on the roof, but because of heavy rains the professional day was moved to Friday. That was later cancelled again and switched to Monday and classes were additionally cancelled on Monday afternoon for Tuesday. As of press time, it was unknown whether there would be class at Forest Park yesterday.
According to Halley, the project at Forest Park was completed on Tuesday, except for some minor things. Larisa was scheduled to visit the school Tuesday evening to test for odor or residue from the project.
"If I have even the least bit of an uneasy feeling about it, there will be no school (Wednesday)," Larisa said.
Still, some parents have expressed concerns that having students return on the day after gluing was taking place may be too dangerous and may cause additional problems, similar to what happened at Stony Lane.
This is not the first time that a group of parents has circulated a petition against the superintendent. Two years ago, Avanzato said, 700 people signed a petition against Halley.
"That's a lot of people to just dismiss," she said. "My sense is that we'll have even more this time. The school committee should already be looking into this."
Bob Sullivan, President of the National Education Association North Kingstown (NEANK) said that the petition situation is "most understandable."
"I think there has been a mounting frustration and disapproval over a long period of time," he said. "It's not simply what just happened-that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I think there has been a general non-responsive and even callous relationship between central administration and the parents."
Sullivan said that he has been approached by a number of parents and even some teachers on the issue. Additionally, the NEANK may be considering a possible no-confidence vote against the superintendent, but that has not yet been decided, as it requires a long process. The issue will be discussed at a meeting of the executive board on December 1.
Halley himself said that he would prefer not to comment on the petition and that he did not know what to say. He says that he has not seen the petition and only knows what he has read about it in the newspapers.
"I'm just trying to do the best job I can," he said. "I think we have a good school district, one we can all be proud of. I hope that I have been a part of the reason for that."
Avanzato says that the parents are circulating the petition, but hoping that the school committee or town council will take some sort of action or begin an investigation into the situation, but Defedele holds that the school committee will not take action until presented with a petition.
Town council president Elizabeth Dolan did not return calls for comment by the Standard-Times' deadline.
A school committee meeting took place last night, after this paper's news deadline.



©The Standard Times 2003