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Teachers Say They Got Sick From Moldy School

Teachers say this district concentrates more on the FCAT and NCLB than student safety.

staff

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Some teachers at a Volusia County elementary school said they've been sickened by mold and mildew.

They said the school jeopardized children's health by refusing to admit the classrooms at Longstreet Elementary School have problems.

One teacher went to the doctor and two others filled out workers compensation forms to get authorization to see a doctor but said they were denied by the district.
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The district started renovating the second-grade wing last May and on Jan. 11, teachers who had been in portables with their students moved in to their new classrooms, and that's when they noticed the smell.

"In my children it's the red eyes, the runny noses, the use of tissue after tissue, headaches, stomachaches," said second-grade teacher Sandra Blackburn.

Blackburn said after spending several days in her newly renovated classroom, she and her students shared the same symptoms.

Judy Shubert, teaching second-graders next door, had to be relieved of her duties.

"My throat had constricted to such a point that I had to call. I had to get an emergency appointment, which I did receive a shot and some meds in order to be able to breathe," Shubert said.

The teachers, along with guidance counselor Bill Archer who helped them move in to the classrooms, said they knew immediately something bad was in the air.

"There was a horrendous smell. I opened all the windows and turned on the fans, and otherwise you couldn't stay in there," Archer said.

The teachers said they complained to the principal about the smell early on and were repeatedly told it wasn't a problem and not to say anything to school parents.

"If they moved in on a Friday and Saturday we had the complaint Monday afternoon and we responded on Tuesday," Patricia Drago, the executive director of facilities for the district, said.

Drago said their was no cover-up and that environmentalists did a deep bio-cleaning after finding mold in the carpet and on some of the porous surfaces but they insist neither children or teachers were ever in harm's way.

"We did not have a health concern or a health risk at any time. We did have odors. We did have a presence of mold in the carpet. I will tell you that's not a unique situation in Florida, but we did have a rapid response to it," Drago said.

The school district could not say whether the principal warned teachers not to say anything, but they said that is not their method of operation.

Since the situation arose, the school district said they have decided to remove all materials in all of the second-grade classrooms where mold could grow. They will replace all of it, including the carpet.

The school district cited medical confidentiality as to the teachers doctors' appointments.

— Staff
Channel 2 News
2008-01-21
http://www.wesh.com/news/15114586/detail.html?taf=orl

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