RUMFORD – Former Rumford Elementary School second-grade teacher Daniel Patterson claims that teaching in the 50-plus-year-old school forced him to resign.

Superintendent Jim Hodgkin said the district has taken care of air quality issues, including trying to modify the second-floor classroom so that Patterson would be more comfortable.

Hodgkin said air quality tests have shown that mold spores and fragments are well within accepted levels.

At Monday’s board meeting, Hodgkin updated the board on events that have taken place since Patterson sent a letter home by way of his pupils on Dec. 8, explaining that he was resigning because the air quality has made him sick.

Hodgkin and several board members and school Principal Anne Chamberlin have received calls from concerned parents since then.

“When misinformation is sent home, that is a very delicate issue,” Hodgkin said Monday night.

Patterson, however, said Tuesday that he has experienced migraine headaches, chest constriction, stomach aches and a sore throat. He said he had missed more than 15 days due to illness last year, and five or six days so far this school year.

“I didn’t associate my problems with the building until this year,” said Patterson, adding that he realized he felt fine during summer vacation until he returned to school in late August. He said he threw away two bags of books, games and other items soon after he returned to school because he saw a black-like mold on them.

Hodgkin said the school was tested by Air Quality Management of Gray in September. The results showed a particulate number far below accepted numbers of 20,000 to 100,000. None of the rooms tested were above 12,266, according to the inspector’s report.

When asked Monday night by board member Christopher Brennick whether Patterson’s was an isolated incident, Chamberlin said other teachers have allergies.

“But we’re not sure if it’s something in the building. I don’t know that anyone has said it’s only when they are in school,” she said.

Patterson said he’d like to see the district take some responsibility.

“She has a number of staff who take allergy shots. I’d like to see the board send an anonymous survey to RES teachers,” he said.

He said administration offered to transfer him within the district. Hodgkin said Patterson’s room was changed and an air purifier installed, but the problem persisted.

“We know we have old buildings and a potential for issues,” Hodgkin said Monday night. “We’ve had mold in the past and have eradicated it as soon as it was discovered. But for anyone to say we are covering it up is absurd.”

Because of ongoing discussion on possible air quality issues, the district invited the state’s Division of Safety and Environmental Services to again test the air in the school.

That test was taken Dec. 14. The results should be known at the board’s next meeting on Jan. 8.

Patterson believes the conditions may have been modified Dec. 14 because he said the heat was not on in the school.

“I find it an odd coincidence that the janitor forgot to turn the heat on,” he said.

Hodgkin said Tuesday night that he had met with the elementary school staff on Monday to discuss Patterson’s air quality allegations.

He said the only ones who discussed the matter were those who were concerned that Patterson had made the claims.

Buildings and Grounds director Tim Gallant said Monday that his department has followed recommendations by inspectors, including changing the filter on the air changer twice a year, using only certified contractors and installing dual-filters in vacuums. New carpeting believed to further reduce particulate matter getting into the air will be installed next year.

Patterson, who had taught in SAD 43 for almost a year-and-a-half, had previously home-schooled students, and served in the Peace Corps on Kiribati, a former Gilbert Island. He lives in Rangeley.