Arctic College students in Coral Harbour to move following mould complaint
MLA says he’s seen an increase of mould in school building and students are getting sick
Aivilik MLA Solomon Malliki, left, says he’s heard complaints about mould in the Coral Harbour school building that Nunavut Arctic College students attend. (Photo by Emma Tranter)
Classes for Nunavut Arctic College students in Coral Harbour will be moved from their current building over mould concerns.
A lease for a new learning site was signed March 1 and the students will start using that property this week, said Pamela Gross, the territory’s minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College, in an interview last week.
The students will be going to the Sudliq Development building, where Kivalliq Inuit Association offices are also located.
Gross initially confirmed the move during a session in the legislature on Feb. 27.
At that time, she said she had received a letter of complaint about poor conditions in the Community Learning Centre, where the college classes are held. The centre is attached to Sakku School, which houses classes for kindergarten through Grade 12.
She divulged the information in response to comments from Aivilik MLA Solomon Malliki, who represents Coral Harbour.
Malliki said he recently toured Sakku School and is concerned about mould he said is forming there. He said he’s heard students are getting sick more often, possibly due to the mould.
“We should not have students going to school in a building that is unsafe,” he said.
In the interview, Gross said she received a letter in late February regarding conditions in the Community Learning Centre building, with mould being included among the complaints.
She said a company called Blue Metric has been doing mould testing at Sakku School for the past year, but the college part of the building was not also being tested. That’s changing this month.
When asked whether she has received test results, Gross said, “The only mould I know about was in 1996, and that was remediated shortly after.”
In 2018, the issue of possible mould at Sakku School was raised by the MLA representing Coral Harbour at the time, Patterk Netser.
He said he wanted Sakku School replaced because of the impact a mould infestation in the school was having on students.
Testing for air quality in Sakku School carried out in 2022 met Health Canada’s standards, a spokesperson for GN Department of Education told Nunatsiaq News.
Very concerning for the Kids that go to Sakku School too, it’s in the same building as the Arctic College, condemn the interest building.
4 year’s ago a group came to the school to test for mold & they sadly stated that it was negative for mold when infected it is very visible in some areas & the smell of mold is very pungent in some area’s.
Solomon Malliki, hear out a parent’s concern as well please.
Why are cleaning and maintenance standards so low in these public buildings to permit mold to flourish.
Is this happening because of a lack of staff or because of inadequate training and supervision of staff?
Is there a lack of basic cleaning supplies such as peroxide, baking soda, vinegar, ammonia and bleach in Whale Cove? No rags or spray bottles? LOL, no masks?
Those supplies in Whale Cove won’t help this situation in Coral Harbour.
A good inventory of cleaning supplies along with staff who are trained and motivated to use them might be helpful in Coral Harbor
There is an abundance of ignorance and apathy in Nunavut. Warped perceptions of how things work combined with this sense that the ‘government’ (an archetype for the cosmic parent that is responsible for everything) should look after it. People will spit venom about what the government should do before ever lifting one of their own fingers to try to do it.
The Adult Ed section is about 6 decades old, Sakku School was added on to existing school in late 70s-1980.