Balnarring Primary School students sick from mould amid finding contaminated school bags

Parents whose children attend Balnarring Primary School say they have discovered mould in school bags and other personal items, leading kids to become ill amid the exposure.

Mould at the Kinari building been discovered at Balnarring Primary School. Picture: Supplied

Parents whose children attend Balnarring Primary School say they have discovered mould in school bags and other personal items.

It comes after it was revealed pupils had been exposed to toxic mould in the school’s senior Kinari building for years four to six, with families continuing to express concerns about their children’s health and disruptions to learning.

School mother Kerri Collins, who is speaking on behalf of a Balnarring parents’ group, said

children were finding mould in their school bags and drink bottles.

“There are several parents that have notified me that their child has become sick from their exposure to this mould,” Ms Collins said.

“Illness consists of allergies, attacks, eye irritations, upper respiratory infections, headaches, feeling unwell, complaints of it being hard to breath and fatigue.

Mould has been discovered at Balnarring Primary School.

“Who will pay for the parents out of pocket expense when consulting their doctor for concerns and being prescribed medications?,” she added.

Photos seen by the Herald Sun show mould spreading under the Kinari building’s carpet and skirting boards.

Ms Collins said parents were continuing to call for portable buildings due to NAPLAN testing starting in two weeks.

“NAPLAN is coming up and some parents are concerned their children’s preparation has been interrupted.”

She added that parents had seen emails dating back to 2018, claiming all buildings should be tested for mould due to them previously flooding.

“I can only imagine that potentially some mould has been there since then. But as nothing was done back then by the Department we will never know.”

The mould has reportedly caused illness.

The cause of the mould has not yet been identified.

A hygienist attended the school on Wednesday and a contractor will be on site from early next week to commence work.

A Department of Education spokesman said the health and safety of its students and staff was its top priority.

“No classrooms or school facilities affected by mould are being used by students or staff,” he said.

“The VSBA is working closely with the school and will conduct remediation works to fix the problem, with affected areas to remain isolated until full remediation work has been completed.”

Sanitisation of all contained areas and removal of area containment were completed on February 9.

The school also engaged an additional hygienist to conduct a mould assessment, after which time students were relocated from the building to other parts of the school.