The Wiscasset School Department has called in the state to determine if Wiscasset Middle School’s basement has mold.

An engineering technician’s visit to the school on Friday, March 27, to collect samples came in response to continued concerns the school department was hearing two months after air quality tests were done, department officials said.

Friday’s samples were taken from walls in the chorus and band rooms and one other room, also in the basement, Interim Superintendent Lyford Beverage said. The technician applied tape to the walls and then peeled it off to obtain the samples, Beverage said.

The technician, Larry Mare of the Maine Bureau of General Services’ Division of Safety and Environmental Services, said March 30 that he expected the test results in a few days.

The previous tests checked for carbon dioxide levels and other aspects of air quality, but probably only would have picked up on mold if it had been present in high levels, Mare said in Monday’s telephone interview.

According to Mare’s Jan. 22 report on air quality tests at the school, results were within guidelines except for elevated carbon dioxide levels in one room and low humidity throughout the areas tested.

“Low humidity is common during the winter months because of ambient conditions,” the report states.

The classroom with the elevated carbon dioxide levels had 11 students in it at the time.

“No air flow was coming out of the air supply diffusers, which probably means the unit that serves that area is not functioning,” the report continues.

The school department is in the process of reviewing the building’s entire air system, Beverage said.

The January tests and the new ones became the center of discussion in the public comment portion of a school committee meeting March 26.  Two Wiscasset mothers, Michaela West and Andrea Main, voiced their concerns about the health of the building where Wiscasset Primary School’s students and staff will move after this school year.

It’s difficult to fix a problem that hasn’t been found, Committee Chairman Steve Smith said.

“I’ve heard over and over (about) things that are wrong, and no matter what you say people believe it,” Smith said.

West, an educational technician at the primary school, said she would feel better if someone different was conducting the tests this time.

“If I were getting a second opinion I wouldn’t ask the same doctor. Why would he say anything different,” West said. “I don’t understand why you’d bring back the same person.”

“He’s certified by the state of Maine. That’s his job,” Beverage said.