Legionella was a hot topic during last week’s Chesterfield school board meeting, with board members Rob Thompson and Javaid Siddiqi asking pointed questions of two state Department of Health officials.
Thirteen county residents have been diagnosed with a disease caused by Legionella bacteria this year, a state Health Department official said, and bacteria was found in cooling towers at five area schools and a number of non-school locations, including Defense Supply Center Richmond, Ice Zone, Johnston-Willis Hospital and Reynolds Metal Co., over the summer.
State epidemiologist Lillian Peake and Dr. Alexander Samuel, the county’s acting health director, spoke before the board Oct. 7.
Peake said there are 60-plus species of Legionella bacteria that are commonly found in soil and freshwater. Legionella is an uncommon cause of disease in people, she said.
“We don’t have data to quantify the relative risk in homes,” she said, adding two kind of diseases can result from the bacteria: Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever. The former is the more serious and “the main thing we track,” she said.
“It is not typically spread person-to-person,” Peake said. “Most people do not get sick even if exposed. Those who are more susceptible include those who are 50-plus, use tobacco, have lung disease or a weakened immune system.”
Peake said cases of Legionnaires have increased five fold in Virginia and the U.S. over the past several years, and noted there have been 135 in the state this year. “We don’t really know why,” she said, adding that it may be due to a combination of factors.
Peake said the department hasn’t identified the specific source of the disease in Chesterfield. “It’s not unusual to not find a source,” she said. “What’s more important is to mitigate and make sure there’s not ongoing risk. We’re dealing with really small numbers (in Chesterfield).” They cases could be sporadic, she said.
Siddiqi asked Samuel if the presence of bacteria in Chesterfield constituted a public health crisis. “It is a public health issue or concern which necessitated bringing in additional federal resources to address,” Samuel said.
Board chair Robert Thompson criticized Peake and Samuel for not making a complete presentation on the topic before county officials in July, noting they only spoke about school sites and not other county areas impacted by the bacteria. “Had this total presentation been done in July, I don’t think we’d be talking about this in October,” he said.
Thompson said the school district put a remediation plan into effect to ensure the situation doesn’t happen again. “We had an issue. We fixed it,” he said, imploring folks to “stop beating a dead horse here.”
Bermuda District board member Carrie Coyner apologized to Peake and Sameul for “how you’ve been talked to this evening.” Coyner added, “We wouldn’t be here tonight if our cooling towers had been cleaned, and that is not your fault.”
“I don’t appreciate the interrogation style,” Coyner said, adding that some could blame the Board of Supervisors for not asking for more detailed information about county-wide Legionellia cases in July instead of just asking about school sites. However, “county government is responsible for our schools,” and the information about the other sites was available on the Department of Health’s website, she said.
Dale District board member John Erbach said the situation “has not always been reported factually. We did have an issue, and it needed to be addressed and it has been addressed.”
Primary day
In other news, the school board voted unanimously to not have students report to school on Tuesday, March 3, next year. Forty-seven Chesterfield schools are used as voting locations, and the board thought it prudent to not have students on campus during the Super Tuesday presidential primary. Instead, they will make up time on March 13 or 20, the latter for students in year-round school.
Calendar
During the afternoon work session, the school board decided by consensus to not move forward with a pre-Labor Day school start next fall, instead deciding to leave that issue to the next school board. None of the school board members are running for re-election, and an entirely new board will be seated in January. The plan is to have the new board decide whether to start school before Labor Day for the 2021-22 school year.
$10K Burlington grant
As part of the consent agenda, the school board accepted a grant from Burlington Stores for $10,000 worth of supplies for classrooms at Salem Church Middle School. Over the summer, a national sweepstakes was held for K-12 schools. Salem Church Middle was nominated by Avis Baker and was chosen as one of the 10 winners. A virtual AdoptAClassroom.org account will be established for each teacher the school identifies, along with his/her allocation of the funds. Each teacher will then be able to order supplies through a marketplace of nearly 30 education vendors.
Branch honored
Thompson called for a moment of silence in honor of South Chesterfield resident Rebecca Surley Branch, who died Sept. 11 at age 89. Branch obtained degrees from Virginia State University and was the first black principal of Ettrick Elementary and held that position from 1971-83.
