Seattle schools assailed for response to mold and other problems

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Seattle schools assailed for response to mold and other problems

Teachers file complaint with state

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/227612_mold08.html

By JESSICA BLANCHARD

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

For months, as water from a leaky pipe pooled and mold spread

underneath classrooms filled with first- and second-graders, Arbor

Heights Elementary teacher Femiano urged Seattle Public

Schools officials to fix the problem.

Students in his wing of the West Seattle school were complaining of

mysterious headaches that disappeared once they left the classroom.

Many seemed to be constantly coming down with colds and other

ailments.

Femiano

" It's ridiculous, " Femiano said. " I went up and down the chain ...

to the superintendent and the School Board, even. And still I got no

real response. "

Frustrated, he and a handful of other teachers filed a complaint in

April with the state Department of Labor and Industries, also citing

possible exposure from damaged asbestos insulation around the water

pipe.

Today, six months after it was first reported, the mold is still

there -- affecting at least four classrooms.

L & I has opened an investigation, triggering a belated pledge from

the district to solve the problem.

" It is unacceptable that there was that delay, " district spokeswoman

Patti Spencer said last week, adding that the district has since

formed a task force at Arbor Heights and is surveying other schools

for evidence of mold problems.

Those measures don't satisfy a growing number of critics -- parents,

teachers and students across the city -- who claim the district is

failing to cleanse mold and other environmental hazards from a

number of schools in order to save money.

Meryl Schenker / P-I

Cori Roed, holding Conner, 4, said recurring headaches have caused

her daughter , left, to miss seven days of school at Arbor

Heights Elementary this year -- more than the previous three years

combined. Mold in the classroom was reported to the district six

months ago.

Years of budget cuts and a backlog of tens of millions of dollars'

worth of maintenance projects have taken their toll on many schools -

- nobody disputes that. Replacing lead-contaminated water pipes and

drinking fountains throughout the district -- a top priority in the

past year -- also has been costly.

District officials continue to assert publicly that there are no

other serious environmental health threats and that the mold problem

in particular is minor -- potentially affecting only a handful of

students suffering from severe allergies or asthma.

Documents obtained by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer tell a

different story.

Asked in April to recommend which upcoming maintenance projects

could be cut or delayed to help balance the budget, district

maintenance manager Ed Heller warned that deferring any of them

would be unwise.

In a series of internal e-mails, Heller rattled off a list of

possible hazards within the district's older schools -- from

asbestos-containing floor tiles and dirty, worn carpets to ceilings

lined with cellulose tile that provide a medium for mold.

" Combined with leaking roofs, condensation from low temperatures due

to energy conservation and restricted circulation behind ceiling

tile, there are potential colonies of molds all over the district, "

he wrote.

In another e-mail, Heller concluded: " We are jeopardizing health and

safety now. Cutting this budget just increases the number of

students we are putting at risk. "

Heller was not available for comment. Spencer said district

officials disagreed with Heller's description of the situation but

ultimately decided not to delay any of the maintenance projects.

" As soon as it became clear that replacing floor tiles is very

important in terms of ongoing safety, the decision was made to

absolutely protect those dollars, " Spencer said.

Since March, several district workers have been surveying schools,

looking for water damage, stained ceiling tiles and other evidence

of mold. Potential problems are referred to an environmental

coordinator for follow-up visits.

Spencer estimated that 62 schools had been inspected already, with

about 13 requiring follow-up visits. Of those inspections, only one

patch of mold had been discovered so far -- at Washington Middle

School, she said.

But recent correspondence between district officials and school

employees suggests the problem is more widespread.

Mold was reported in eight classrooms and on a water-damaged

stairwell ceiling at Hale High School last fall, and patches

were discovered in rooms at Leschi Elementary in March and

Washington Middle School in April, according to the e-mails.

Teachers and staff members also have raised concerns about indoor

air quality at Viewridge Elementary and Seahawks Academy middle

school, and they have reported moldy smells at Graham Hill

Elementary and Gatzert Elementary.

" The Seattle School District has been slumlording with impunity for

years, " said Mark , a parent who sounded the alarm last year

on contaminated drinking water. " And they get away with it was long

as the public doesn't hear about it. "

The district's risk manager, Staudt, acknowledged that some

schools may have small amounts of mold, and that " we suspect there's

the potential for more of it out there. ... We recognize we need to

be more proactive in identifying it as soon as it rears its ugly

head. We are continuing to look at those issues, but to date we

haven't seen any indication that anyone's been adversely impacted. "

Arbor Heights parent Cori Roed, whose daughter, , is in

Femiano's second-grade class, said there's plenty of evidence

students have been harmed.

has had recurring headaches and has missed at least seven

days of school this year -- more than the previous three years

combined, Roed said.

Two students in 's class were diagnosed with asthma this year,

and others have complained of respiratory problems and persistent

colds, according to Roed.

" They might have gotten it anyway -- or they might not, " she

said. " But sitting on top of this swamp all winter long I'm sure

wasn't helpful. "

Roed worries that children were exposed to mold and asbestos on at

least one occasion, when workers opened up the crawl space below the

classrooms while students were present.

Workers later discovered damaged asbestos insulation and rodent

droppings, complicating cleanup efforts.

Facilities Director Fred s, who took over the job eight weeks

ago, said his workers need to take care of repairs more quickly. He

promised to " respond to those needs in a much, much better and more

efficient manner. "

District officials have convened a task force of Arbor Heights

teachers, parents and staff that meet weekly to monitor the problem

there and work on a solution. The district is also footing the bill

for an independent air-quality consultant chosen by the Arbor

Heights' PTA.

But like many other Arbor Heights parents, Kim Seater is furious

that it took Femiano's whistle-blower complaint for the district to

seriously address health hazards at the school.

" The minute he did that, it seemed to light a fire under the

district, " she said. " The district basically has neglected these

problems ... I don't for one minute believe Arbor Heights is the

only school in the district that has mold problems. "

Last summer, as workers were fixing up Lincoln High School, the

Department of Labor and Industries cited the district for

two " serious " asbestos-exposure violations and fined it $5,400.

Last fall, facing growing pressure from parents, district officials

sought a consultation with L & I on how to handle the mold problem at

Hale High and hired a consultant to test indoor air quality.

" They both recommended that the situation is stable, " Spencer

said. " They don't believe there is a risk. "

The consensus was that all of the stained ceiling tiles should be

removed but that the majority of the tiles could remain until this

summer, Spencer said. In the meantime, the consultants said the

tiles themselves formed a physical barrier that would keep any mold

from affecting students and staff.

All visible mold was removed and about 700 tiles were replaced over

winter break, Staudt said. The district plans to replace 1,600 more

this summer.

Parent Aspelund scoffs at that. " That's not even hitting

the tip of the iceberg, " she said.

The district, she said, should also replace the plasterboard above

the stained tiles and immediately eliminate any water leaks.

Aspelund's 17-year-old son, North, has a compromised immune system

as a result of complications from cancer and is so vulnerable to

mold exposure that he was pulled from school for several months this

year.

He's back in school now but had to be moved to another classroom

when another patch of mold was discovered last month, Aspelund said.

She said she's worried other children might be affected, and she's

frustrated by the district's attempts to downplay the problem. " To

them it's not a health threat -- it just doesn't look good. They're

short on money, I guess. "

The mold at Hale may be a serious health concern, or it might

be innocuous -- but the district won't know until it tests it, said

, a toxicologist who heads the Shoreline-based

Children's Indoor Environmental Health Society.

" It's an educational institution that's telling you that ignorance

is bliss, " he said.

At Arbor Heights, the district has decided to wait for a report from

the task force's consultant before attempting any permanent fixes.

In the meantime, workers have reinforced the barrier between the

crawl space and the classrooms and sealed cracks. Teachers are

opening classroom doors and windows to improve air flow.

The task force meets weekly and sends regular updates to parents and

staff, Staudt said.

" Clearly everyone wants to move this to a resolution as fast as we

possibly can, " he said. " I think everyone's on the same page. "

But those words ring hollow for Femiano, the whistle-blower.

A task force sounds nice, he said, but " I think it's more for show

than it is for effectiveness. "

He's afraid his activism on the mold problem and his criticism last

year of the district's handling of the water-quality issue have

finally caught up with him. After 14 years teaching at Arbor

Heights, he said he's suddenly being pressured to transfer to

another school.

Spencer said the transfer is not retaliatory, but declined further

comment. Parents have rallied around Femiano, who says he plans to

fight the reassignment.

" We're supposed to be child advocates, " he said. " If you can't stand

up and do that without the fear of reprisal ... then it doesn't

happen. "

P-I reporter Blanchard can be reached at 206-448-8322 or

jessicablanchard@...