The principal and board of governors of CedarBridge Academy were told about mould at the school as far back as four years ago, Education Minister Randy Horton has revealed.

Mr. Horton, responding to written parliamentary questions posed by Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell last week, disclosed the fact that principal Kalmar Richards and the board ?received reports of a mouldy smell in the library and in the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts? in December 2002.

A Government spokesman said that the Minister ? who closed the Island?s largest public school on November 1 after a number of teachers fell ill due to mould ? would not comment on what Mrs. Richards and the board did at that stage.

But Mr. Darrell said it was vital that the public was eventually told what happened between the school first being informed and action being taken.

?Obviously the school knew about it,? he said. ?The Minister will have to inquire into the big gap between the two dates. I?m quite concerned that it was such a long span between identification and intervention.?

Paul Harshaw, a lawyer now representing four female teachers who believe they were made sick by mould at the school, said the Minister?s disclosure was of ?considerable concern?.

?The principal of CedarBridge Academy is an employee and a senior employee of the Ministry of Education,? he said. ?If it?s correct that the principal of CedarBridge Academy knew of mould problems four years ago, before teachers were made ill by the problem, then not only does CedarBridge Academy have something to answer for but so does the Ministry. The knowledge of the employee or, in this case, the civil servant Kalmar Richards is the knowledge of the Government of Bermuda.?

He added: ?I think that if the board of governors of CedarBridge Academy knew this problem four years ago and did nothing to alert the proper authorities or to affect proper repairs then they have to acknowledge that they put people?s health in danger.?

Mrs. Richards could not be contacted yesterday. Board chairman Constance McHardy, who has so far not commented on the mould crisis, said last night: ?I really have nothing to say. I?m working with the Ministry and I know that the Ministry dialogues with the media. I will not say anything.?

An independent inquiry into how the mould problem was handled has been ordered by Mr. Horton. Mr. Darrell said his parliamentary questions were aimed at ensuring the results of the probe were forthcoming.

He asked when the Ministry of Education was first notified of a potential mould problem and was told by Mr. Horton that a letter was received dated June 17, 2005 from a teacher who claimed she had become ill due to the mouldy environment.

Mr. Darrell also asked to be told the number of teacher sick days each year for CedarBridge since 2002 and how many were due to complaints of respiratory difficulties.

The Minister replied that there was only one documented case where a teacher?s absence was linked to a respiratory failure. The Government spokesman told this newspaper that details of the number of days that teacher was off school could not be released as it would violate privacy policies.

Mr. Darrell said he did not believe there was only one teacher who suffered respiratory problems. He said he believed the Minister was referring to a female teacher but he knew of a male teacher who claimed to have suffered such an ailment and that other staff and students had suffered different symptoms.

The Opposition politician added that the Minister?s answers were probably deliberately vague because of the prospect of future legal action from teachers.

Mr. Harshaw said his clients were investigating the long-term effects of the mould on their health before they made a decision on whether to sue.

?If it appears that anybody has suffered any permanent disability as a result of this then certainly there will be an action for damages,? he added.

The Government spokesman said yesterday that work to clean mould from 20 classrooms at CedarBridge was expected to be finished before the school breaks up for Christmas and that students and staff should be able to return in January.

He added that air testing was still being conducted at the school, ?the aim being to ensure the indoor air quality is at least as good as the outdoor air quality, and satisfies the criteria of the Health Department?.