TimesLeader.com

District acts on pool issue

Hazleton Area is dealing with the problem of peeling paint in two schools.

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Hazleton Area School District officials say steps have been taken to address a problem with peeling paint in two district swimming pools.

The Times Leader recently received an anonymous letter signed “Concerned Parent” alleging that swimming pools at Hazleton Area High School and Freeland Elementary-Middle School “have peeling paint that is sticking to the children.”

The writer claimed to have children attending both schools “and nothing is being done to correct the problem.”

Freeland Principal Joseph Barletta said he also received a letter of concern about the pool at his school and has spoken with maintenance staff to ensure that a pool cleaner is used nightly so the pool is free of paint chips for swimming classes during the school day.

High school Principal Rocco Petrone said he was unaware of any problem with the swimming pool at his school.

The problem, as school board member Steve Hahn understands it, is that an acrylic latex paint “supposedly made for the pools” was used when the pools were drained during the summer.

The paint, he said, “either was not applied correctly or was not the right type of paint for that application.”

Hahn, chairman of the Facilities, Technology and Capital Projects Committee, said he was assured that the paint was applied to the pool surfaces correctly.

Hahn said Facilities Director Carl Yorina told him there is a plan to repaint the pools with an epoxy paint, but that can’t be done until the summer because of excessive fumes associated with the type of paint and the need for extensive ventilation during the painting process.

“It looks like they tried to go with a less expensive alternative and it didn’t work out,” Hahn said.

Hahn said someone called the state Department of Health about the problem, and an inspector who visited the school conducted chemical tests that revealed no danger to students who swim in the pool.

Barletta said the problem has been addressed at his school. He said on Wednesday that he had just visited the pool and saw no paint chips in the water.

“This is not a cause for concern,” he said.