Note: this excerpt is from an anonymous email sent to WVA parents.
This is a response to John Treu’s message from February 17, copied below, which is unfortunately filled with misleading statements and outright lies. In summary, as the evidence I include here makes very clear, John Treu and the rest of the WVA administration have known since at least December 2022 that the air in the building has made and continues to make some teachers and many kids sick, and their continued failure to disclose that knowledge would result in their dismissal if they were subjected to the same oversight as other public schools. The issues are broader than just carbon dioxide (CO2) and include moisture and mold problems, as the evidence will show, but since John has specifically denied in writing to all current WVA parents that there is any CO2 issue, that will be my focus here. OSHA standards apply to adults in the workplace, not children in schools, and OSHA’s “unsafe” levels of 5000 ppm CO2 are 5 times higher than the level at which adults will begin to experience symptoms like drowsiness (see CO2-chart.pdf to the right). The ASHRAE standards that John discussed specify the level of CO2 required for an adult first entering a space to feel discomfort (see ASHRAE.pdf below); clearly a small child in a space for 8 hours may and often will have symptoms at lower CO2 levels. Unfortunately, there is no state-mandated CO2 requirement that all schools must satisfy. However, OSHA and NIOSH suggest levels of CO2 below 600 ppm should be maintained, and that 1000 ppm should be considered an upper limit for extended exposure for adults (see https://www.osha.gov/otm/section-3-health-hazards/chapter-2#:~:text=600%20ppm%20%2D%20minimal%20air%20quality,upper%20limit%20for%20indoor%20levels). Given children’s smaller size and higher respiratory rate, the health issues at any particular CO2 level are generally worse than those experienced by adults.
Contrary to John’s claim, March-Westin never performed work at the school; they contracted the work to ADI (see March-Westin.pdf to the right), a smaller firm that had no role whatsoever in building the Mylan Aquatics Center, Mon County Hospital, and the WVU Erickson Alumni Center (see https://adiwv.com/projects/). In December 2022, after numerous complaints from students and teachers, CO2 levels were tested to be as high as 2500 ppm, enough to make adults experience headaches, fatigue, poor concentration, nausea, and numerous other health issues (see CO2-chart.pdf). After ADI performed “the best retrofit/improvement [they] could do with the time allotted”, a single test with school in session, on 1/17/2023, showed improved levels at or below 1400 ppm. This is still high enough to cause the aforementioned symptoms in children and some adults. An HVAC system providing adequate ventilation would maintain levels closer to the levels found when the building is unoccupied, and certainly should maintain levels below 1000 ppm at all times.
Those who have reached out to administrators about air quality issues have all received the same deceptive response that John provided in his email. As clear evidence that this is a deliberate deception, attached is a picture of WVA’s own air quality monitor that Rebecca Bobincheck purchased during her time at the school (see picture below), which was registering at 1722 ppm inside a classroom during the school day at the time the picture was taken, nearly 3 times the NIOSH-recommended level of CO2. As can be seen on the Technical Specifications for the device at e.g. https://www.airthings.com/view-plus, the central indicator light should be green for CO2 below 800 ppm, yellow between 800 ppm and 1000 ppm, and red above 1000 ppm, since any store-bought air quality monitor will follow the NIOSH guidelines. Given the reading of 1722 ppm, far above the recommended upper limit, the central light should be glowing red, but as can be seen in the picture, someone has painted over that light with white-out to hide the fact that CO2 levels are unacceptably high in the school.
John also failed to disclose that even now, long after the shoe-string-budget renovations that were done to the school HVAC were completed, the administration has continued to be made aware that students and teachers are being made sick due to air quality issues in the school. In October 2023, 10 months after ADI completed their work, one teacher who had been ignored by Heidi Treu and other administrators for months finally reached out to the entire administration and the board (the message was later circulated to many of the teachers by the original recipients) to inform them all that “moisture problems, possible CO2 issues, mold issues, etc. clearly exist” and that she had “been having terrible health issues” (see Cooper-emails.pdf to the right), that both she and her students were experiencing asthma symptoms due to the air quality, and that she felt “like I’m drowning while trying to teach and breathe”. After being ignored for an additional week, she again emailed, detailing how she and her students experienced exhaustion and frequent headaches. In response, Heidi Treu denied having been aware of the issue, despite having been made aware on numerous occasions over the course of many months. In February 2024, another administrator at the school also made the management team aware (and this message was also later circulated more broadly by the recipients) that he was “experiencing sinus congestion, headaches, and difficulty breathing,” and that he “observed multiple water stains on the ceiling” in his office (see Bogie-email.pdf below). Both employees stated that their symptoms completely cleared up over breaks when they were not in the building.
As the many, many other victims have separately pointed out, the current administration are only ever concerned about appearances, in this case the appearance that they are actively monitoring and mitigating any air quality issues. The reality is that the current building was never designed nor intended to be a school housing hundreds of people. Under the existing lease, the school would be responsible for any required HVAC renovations, and the administrators have repeatedly demonstrated that they are unwilling to spend funds on hard-to-notice improvements that they can’t effectively use to raise more funding, even if those improvements are clearly in the best interests of the students. Just to further highlight this point, below is a picture of a staff member filling a large water bottle from a shower head in one of the school bathrooms. This bottle goes in the dispenser that sits right inside the main entrance, and is used by the students to fill their own water bottles. The natural assumption that current or prospective families or visiting dignitaries would make is that this water is at least filtered, and is most likely provided by a water delivery service. However, filling the bottle with unfiltered water coming out of a shower head caked with calcium, lime, and rust doesn’t cost anything, and gives the same appearance, so the free option wins, student health be damned.
It is hopefully quite obvious that concern for the children’s safety is quite literally the only conceivable reason why so many current and former WVA parents and teachers would be speaking out against the current administration, as none of us have anything to gain, other than the privilege of being harassed. The only people with motives that run counter to student welfare (namely, money and what they seem to perceive as power) are the people currently running WVA. Until they are replaced, the children at WVA are not safe.
____________________________________________________________________________________
From: Kelly Booth <kbooth@k12.wv.us>
Date: Saturday, February 17, 2024 at 12:32 PM
To:
Cc: John Treu <john.treu@k12.wv.us>
Subject: <no subject>
Dear WVA Families:
We’ve been hearing a lot of questions and concerns about carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in our school based on some false reports that are circulating. I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on air quality and HVAC systems, but I will pass on the documented facts and guidance provided to our school by the experts that we hired, as well as results from inspections, all of which confirm that our school building is safe for our staff and scholars.
First, the renovations for our current building, including the duct work for our ventilation systems, were completed by March-Westin. As you may be aware, March-Westin is one of the premier commercial builders in the state of West Virginia. For example, they built the Mylan Aquatics Center, Mon County Hospital, and the WVU Erickson Alumni Center. Anyone who has been in one of those buildings has seen their exceptional work and should feel confident that our facility was renovated in compliance with code and proper standards of workmanship and provides a safe location for students.
Second, March-Westin advised us that OSHA standards are used for determining the safety levels for CO2 in a building like ours. Based on those safety standards, carbon dioxide has never been found at an “unsafe” level in our building at any time. Any statement suggesting that our building is not safe for students or teachers because of high levels of CO2 is incorrect.
Third, March-Westin advised us that there are other standards designed to ensure comfort, including ASHRAE 62.1. We have been proactive in appropriately responding whenever carbon dioxide levels were found approaching or exceeding those comfort standards so that the air quality in our building provides not only safety but also comfort for our students.
Lastly, our building passed all safety inspections to open less than two years ago and also passed an air quality inspection by the Mon County health department in January of 2023. I can confirm that the inspector applied the more rigorous ASHRAE comfort standards when making that determination. These inspections provide further confirmation that our building is safe. The following link from the Mon County health department confirms that our school passed its most recent air quality inspection:
I will reiterate what Holly alluded to in her message yesterday, that there are many opponents to charter schools that willingly spread rumors and gossip about our school. The people who are primarily involved in spreading this misinformation are not motivated out of concern for your child’s safety.
I hope this information is helpful.
Best Regards,
John Treu
Founder & Board Chair
West Virginia Academy, Ltd.
Voices of West Virginia Academy 
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