Oconee County parents press for mold testing at elementary school; superintendent orders third‑party testing

Superintendent Deborah Harden announced at the Oconee County Board of Education meeting on July 7 that she has directed the district’s chief operating officer to have a third party recommend and conduct additional testing at Oconee County Elementary School (OCES), responding to public concerns about mold and indoor air quality.

The request for outside testing came during public comment from parents and community members, who said humidity checks and other internal measures have not addressed lingering health and safety concerns. Cara Freske, an OCES parent, told the board she delivered a petition signed by nearly 300 parents and community members asking the district to fund professional mold testing. “We are united by one clear concern, the health and safety of our children and their teachers,” Freske said. “The district has the resources to make this happen.”

The petition and subsequent comments described multiple areas of concern inside OCES, including the gym, an exterior third‑grade pod that had been converted for storage, and a fourth‑and‑fifth‑grade “slip pod” that parents said flooded more than a year ago. Parent Mandy Moriera said several staff members, including two physical‑education teachers and the school nurse, resigned in part over mold concerns; she said one teacher’s resignation letter explicitly cited mold. “This has been heartbreaking, very upsetting, very stressful for the parents and the community,” Moriera said.

At the meeting, Esther Porter asked whether test results would be public. Superintendent Harden said reports will be shared with the board first and then made available to the public and that the board will present the findings at a meeting when available. Parent Carrie Cohen urged the district to adopt a clear remediation plan that would be communicated to families if testing finds elevated levels.

District staff and parent speakers described frustration with prior communications and with reliance on humidity readings alone. Freske said parents were willing to help fund testing but emphasized that the district should pay. Moriera described visible odors and lingering smells in the gym and said some staff members told her they were too ill to continue. Several parents said staff felt unable to speak publicly for fear of job repercussions.

Superintendent Harden’s statement that she had instructed the chief operating officer to arrange third‑party testing was the most concrete commitment made during public comment. During her superintendent’s report she said the request to the chief operating officer—identified in public remarks as Dr. Ryan White—was made to “have a third party recommend and conduct additional testing at our elementary school.” Esther Porter had asked whether results would be public; Harden replied the report will be shared with the board first and then made available.

The board took no formal vote on testing at the July 7 meeting; members heard public comment and subsequently approved a series of unrelated procedural motions and policy postings. The testing directive came as an administrative action by the superintendent. The timeline for selecting a firm, the scope of sampling (air, bulk material, or both), and any remediation thresholds were not specified at the meeting.

What happens next: Superintendent Harden’s office and the chief operating officer will select or solicit recommendations from third‑party testing providers; the district has not announced which firm or firms will perform the testing, the expected cost, or a schedule for sampling and reporting. Parents said they expect the district to share testing methodology and follow a clear remediation plan if testing identifies problems.

Speakers quoted in this article are from public comment or the superintendent’s report during the July 7 board meeting. The board did not take a formal vote on a testing contract at the meeting.