To the Editor,

I hope by the time this letter is published, the Newtown School Board has decided to move students out of Hawley School during construction. I doubt there will be any financial savings, but I am sure from my experience that we will be protecting young students from possible exposure to environmental conditions which can cause damage to young fragile lungs.

I spent 41 years of my life in education and can remember the many times students and educators were exposed to unhealthy conditions as construction was completed on the buildings they spent 6+ hours in every day. As a pulmonologist once told me, “We can fix a lot of things that go wrong in the human body but there is little we can do to repair damaged lungs.”

If there is any actual savings, that money should be used to remediate the building further and to ensure accessibility to all as they enter and move about the building. I suffer from COPD even though I never smoked. Contributing factors were part-time construction work, second-hand smoke, and exposure to old school buildings, especially during renovations and construction.

If we insist, for sentimentality, to have students in these old, no-longer-adequate buildings, then we have to at least ensure student and staff a healthy environment during renovation and repair. The opinion expressed here is my own and does not reflect affiliation with any group or organization.

John S. Boccuzzi Sr.

Newtown