Pupils sickened by mold, suit says

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School district accused of ignoring problem

Thursday, June 24, 2004

By Brown

River Parishes bureau

A lawsuit filed Wednesday on behalf of students at The Glade

elementary school in LaPlace alleges toxic mold in the building

caused health problems among pupils while school officials ignored

the situation.

School district spokeswoman Ann LaBorde declined to comment

specifically on the lawsuit. But she said the district has been

monitoring and testing for the presence of mold in the school for

years and was unaware of any health problems.

Last week, The Glade was closed at least until the end of summer

while school officials address what they say is an ongoing problem

with mold and moisture at the school.

The lawsuit says the mold includes a strain of so-called " black mold "

that releases toxins into the surrounding environment. Also known as

stachybotrys chartarum, black mold has been linked in some studies to

respiratory problems such as coughing and wheezing, irritated eyes,

rashes and diarrhea.

The lawsuit says the school district knew black mold had started to

form in The Glade but " did not act reasonably to prevent and correct

the chronically toxic environmental conditions. "

" I've got tons of parents who have problems that their children are

complaining of allergies and headaches, " said Kerry Brown, the

plaintiffs' attorney. " The parents didn't realize what they were

being exposed to over at the school. "

Brown said the parents of 110 students have said they want to sign on

to the lawsuit against the district, with more expected.

LaBorde said the district conducted multiple air tests in recent

years to ensure student safety was not in jeopardy. She noted no

noticeable increase in the past year of students visiting the school

nurse for the problems described by Brown.

The St. the Baptist Parish School Board on June 17 signed a

$668,000 contract with an environmental cleanup firm to remediate the

700-student campus. The repairs include removing and repairing air-

conditioning units, changing out ceiling tiles and insulation, and

fixing leaking pipes.

District officials date Glade's problems to shoddy construction when

it was built in 1989. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been

spent on repairs at the school in the past 15 years.

" Everything that was done was proactive; this is not a reactive

thing, " LaBorde said of the latest attempt to fix the problems,

through the hiring of Environmental of Baton Rouge, which

specializes in mold and mildew removal. " We've been in the process of

fixing that school a long time. . . . All this is more work to try to

remediate the problem. "

A 1993 lawsuit filed by the school system against the builders,

Ragusa and Sons Inc. of Independence, is still pending.

District Architect Alton Darby has said the cleanup should be far

enough along by mid-August to allow children to return to school for

the 2004-05 year. If the cleanup drags on, school officials are

making plans to transfer Glade students to the old Leon Godchaux

Junior High in Reserve or another school.

The front doors of The Glade have been chained shut during the

cleanup. Signs posted outside announce that the school is " Closed for

Remodeling. "

Crose, a former Glade PTA president and a former School Board

member, said the best solution for the school would be to " bulldoze

it down and start over. "

Crose said the removal of mold-covered ceiling tiles is now a regular

occurrence at the school. He said thousands of tiles have been

replaced since the school's construction. But he said an air test

done before the 2003-04 school year turned up no dangerous mold.

, the mother of the three students named as lead

plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said they began having health problems at

the start of the past school year, their second at Glade. Symptoms

ranged from diarrhea in her 7-year-old son, Darryl, to chronically

itching eyes in her 11-year-old son, Jamal, to recurring asthma with

her 14-year-old son, .

" I was just thinking it was the normal routine of them being sick; I

didn't know there was any problem at the school, " she said.

After the summer vacation began, all of the symptoms quickly cleared

up, said.

The case was assigned to 40th Judicial District Judge Hotard

Becnel. No hearing date has been set.

.. . . . . . .

Brown can be reached at mbrown@... or (985) 652-

0958.