Old-Fashioned Coal Furnace Creates Sooty Problem in Aging Schoolrooms

By JAKE STUMP

An elementary school in Raleigh County recently had its classrooms doused in coal dust.

This wasn’t a prank.

Fairdale Elementary School relies on an old coal-burning furnace for heat.

Coal furnaces are a rarity in today’s schools. Fairdale is the only school in Raleigh County that uses one as its source of heat.

Even schools in coal-rich counties like Fayette don’t have these types of furnaces.

"It can be a problem," said Fairdale Principal Gail Mills. "It’s hard to regulate and it gives you a cleaning problem. We have more dust and dirt than most normal schools would have. Coal just produces a dirtier dust."

Maintaining the furnace also produces quite the daunting task.

The Raleigh County school board orders the coal from a local mine and has three dump truckloads delivered to Fairdale Elementary about once a month. The coal is unloaded into a bin area and then shoveled onto a conveyor belt, which runs into the furnace.

Workers must dump the ashes every evening and keep an eye on the furnace so that coal doesn’t get stuck in the gears and pumps, Mills said.

Last week, a coating of coal dust blanketed four classrooms at Fairdale and disrupted classes for one day. Teachers and students had to relocate to rooms unbothered by the dust while crews cleaned up the mess. Some moved into the gym, which also doubles as the cafeteria.

Mills said heavy fog might have forced the coal dust from the furnace to leak back into the building.

Maintenance workers spent the day cleaning out the furnace.

Students were back in their normal classrooms the following day.

"We didn’t let the children near those rooms," said Mills, who’s been principal for five years. "We didn’t want to trigger anyone’s asthma or allergies."

About 500 children, in grades kindergarten through fifth grade, attend Fairdale.

Fortunately for teachers, staff and students, Fairdale is getting a new school – minus the coal furnace.

School officials are considering gas or propane as the new building’s source of heat. Either way, it’ll be less of a hassle than the old coal furnace.

"Anytime you have coal around, the dust is going to float and filter," Mills said. "You have to clean and clean and clean."

Liza Cordeiro, spokeswoman for the West Virginia Department of Education, estimates about two dozen schools in the state still operate coal-burning furnaces.

At Fairdale, the furnace tends to produce an excessive amount of heat, Mills said.

"Sometimes it gets too warm and there’s no quick way of shutting it down," Mills said.

Construction of the new Fairdale school, located adjacent to the existing facility, should be completed within two years.

It will actually have a separate gym and cafeteria. The existing school doesn’t even have space for a library, but the new one will.

Last December, Raleigh County Schools received $1.6 million to complete the new school. In 2005, the School Building Authority gave the county $5.5 million to build the new school, but the lowest bid for the project ended up $2.1 million over the budget.

Mills believes the school’s coal furnace helped enable them to get funding for the new building. She recalls a former female custodian who started wearing a facemask and plastic bag over her head when cleaning the furnace area.

"She had blonde hair and said, ‘I’m sorry, but the coal dirt gets in it and strips the color. I can’t afford to keep getting my hair done,’" Mills said. "We submitted a picture of her with our plea for a new school to Charleston."

Contact writer Jake Stump at jakestump@dailymail.com or 348- 4842.

Originally published by DAILY MAIL CAPITOL REPORTER.

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