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Show 'Sick School' Problem Goes To State Experts ESCALANTE In his report to the Garfield County Board of Education, Supt. Philip Blais told the board that 14 people from Panguitch Pan-guitch High School and Middle School will travel to the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City on Nov. 28 to take part in special testing related to the "sick school" syndrome at Panguitch High School. Blais said that two teachers and 12 students, all of whom have experienced ex-perienced the more severe symptoms symp-toms apparently associated with the school will be participating in the in-depth study. In selecting those to take part, Blais said principals worked with faculty and parents. He said he hopes results may be ready for the January meeting of the board. He said he remains optimistic that steps taken recently may correct whatever is causing the problem. He said that district, with the aid of Wayne Owens who intervened to help the district, obtained glycol from Hill AFB through surplus, for use in the school's ventilating system. sys-tem. Blais said a price, expected to be substantially below estimates, will be established and the glycol will picked up by truck. Also to be tested on Nov. 8 will be carpet samples, and water from the pool at the school. Blais said he had heard of a public building in California at which carpeting had been a source of a severe similar problem. Some foreign-made carpets car-pets have caused problems Blais said, but American and Canadian made carpets have proved to be safe. Blais said he expects the medical testing to be done on Nov. 28 to consume most of the $7,000 remaining from a $10,000 grant which the district received to help correct the problem. Additional financial fi-nancial help from the state could possibly be forthcoming, Blais said, if the district runs into substantial sub-stantial expense. He said that all filters at the school have been changed. Some students jachers have experienced a variety of symptoms such as headache, drowsiness and nausea since shortly after the school opened two years ago. Others Oth-ers have appeared to be totally unaffected. The board discussed substitute pay for teachers. Blais told the board he had surveyed eight similar districts and found that Garfield's pay scale of $35 for non-certified teachers and $37 for certified is "in the ball park." Some changes were made in the district's sabbatical leave policy. Teachers planning to take sabbatical sabbati-cal leave must indicate by April 30 their plans to do so and they must prepare in advance of their leaving an entire year's lesson plans. The board met in executive session ses-sion to discuss administrative pay other than the superintendent's. No action was taken. During the audit report, losses at the swimming pool at Panguitch High School came under discussion. discus-sion. Over the past 12 years, the pool has experienced total losses of $83,000. Recently, purchase of a pool cover appears to be reducing costs somewhat, with school officials offi-cials planning to. meet with Panguitch Pan-guitch City representatives to renegotiate re-negotiate the contract between the district and the city. Blais said that the contract has never been renegotiated re-negotiated since it was originally drawn. A $51,000 surplus in the district's dis-trict's budget will be placed in a reserve re-serve for emergency situations. Blais said that according to Utah law, a district may have up to five percent of its total budget in surplus sur-plus or reserve. The $51,000 Blais noted, represents less than five percent per-cent of the district's budget. A petition requesting a full time principal for Escalante Elementary was presented by the Escalante Elementary PTA president to the board for its consideration. The next board meeting was tentatively set for Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. at Rubys Inn, Bryce. |