Retirees urge testing as Lisha Kill Middle School window-panel removal proceeds

Retired staff from Lisha Kill Middle School asked the South Colonie Central School District Board of Education on Tuesday to confirm whether materials removed during the school's ongoing renovation are being tested for mold and other toxins and to explain how the community will be notified of any findings.

The retirees — identified in their letter as Susan Campbell, Stephanie Copeland, Kim Sarone, Lori Moore and Saeed Jean Bush — told the board they have long raised concerns about persistent water damage, standing water in classrooms and foul odors at Lisha Kill, and they said the district's current window-and-panel removal work “will confirm these suspicions.”

The matter matters to families and former staff because the speakers said they believe the building's indoor-air problems have affected health over many years. The retirees asked whether the contractor removing panels “is aware of the possibility that they may contain mold and or other toxins,” whether materials already removed have been tested, whether remaining materials will be examined, and how the district will notify the community of the results.

Superintendent Christopher Perry responded that the construction contractor has taken remediation and safety precautions and that the district has carried out asbestos testing and abatement in most areas being worked on. Perry said he was not aware of specific mold testing having been done for materials removed to date and that the only broader public-health review he could recall was an Albany County–level review with the state health department that found nothing statistically significant tied to the schools. Perry said he would pull the county report and share it with the retirees.

Perry characterized the current capital project as one designed to address long-standing exterior-wall and window issues on the building and said the front façade has been substantially replaced as part of the work. Board members and staff clarified that abatement and asbestos testing had been done where appropriate but that the district had relied on third-party air‑quality verification during construction rather than routine testing of every removed panel for mold.

At the end of the public statement the board asked retirees to leave contact information with staff so the district could follow up and provide any reports it locates. Perry offered to obtain and provide copies of prior testing and the Albany County review that he said was done around 2020–2021.

The board took no formal vote or policy action at the meeting; the result was a district commitment to locate and share existing reports and to confirm whether further targeted testing of removed materials is planned or can be arranged.

For now, the district says the immediate construction work — removal of old window panels and replacement of the façade — includes asbestos-focused testing and abatement and independent air‑quality verification tied to the capital project.