Re: Severe mold problem found at Tokay High School

[Guest guest]

That is a very high cost they are quoting. It makes me wonder how large the

school is that a remediation job could cost that much money. I hope they are

watching this situatio very carefully so that there isn't fraud going on.

It boggles the imagination how incredibly poor and lacking resources one

district is and then another district spends $14m to clean up a problem.

There really should be some kind of government agency that is tasked with

doing school clean ups at a reasonable cost using the economics of scale.

They could then afford high tech equipment like thermographic cameras and

dry ice blasting equipment to do these jobs right and fast..

It seems to me that this is a national problem and it wouldn't be so

inappropriate to put together a national solution. Otherwise the cost is

going to make cleanups out of the financial reach of many school districts

and that means they will never get done.

The same school districts that are deferring maintenance are also the school

districts are often hard pressed to simply buy books and pay teachers, and

when confronted with a sudden exposure of a mold problem, for most of them,

the money won't suddenly appear out of thin air.

That mean that we need a national committment to address the problem.

On 6/22/07, tigerpaw2c <tigerpaw2c@...> wrote:

>

> Severe mold problem found at Tokay High School

> Lodi News-Sentinel - Lodi,CA*

> By Dyer

> News-Sentinel Staff Writer

> Last updated: Friday, June 22, 2007 11:09 AM PDT

>

> http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2007/06/22/update/mold.txt

>

> Every classroom at Tokay High School is tainted by a significant

> mold problem that will cost the Lodi Unified School District more

> than $14 million to clean up.

>

> District superintendent Bill Huyett confirmed today that significant

> amounts of various molds have been found at the school.

>

> The problem is so bad the district will ask the Lodi Unified School

> board to delay Tokay High's fall start date to Sept. 4 because of

> construction to eradicate the mold.

>

> " We do believe that we will not finish before school starts, " Huyett

> said.

>

> Construction workers found the mold inside the walls of the school's

> science building on Monday during a scheduled modernization project.

> Since Monday, district staff members have been investigating the

> problem.

>

> " Every classroom has it in one shape or form, " Huyett said.

>

> Staff believe that over time moisture leaked into the walls, leading

> to mold growth.

>

> Although Huyett said that preliminary reports showed that the mold

> was not airborne, summer school classes at Tokay High have been

> moved to Lodi Middle School.

>

> The district currently has $13.8 million in Measure K bonds and

> state grants to be used for school modernization projects, but

> Huyett said he believes costs will exceed that amount.

>

> " Whenever we find mold we attack it very aggressively, " Huyett said.

>

> Although he doesn't believe there is a major health risk, Huyett

> said that he encouraged anyone who believes that they have mold-

> related symptoms to consult their doctor.

>

> According to the Environmental Protection Agency, mold-related

> symptoms include sneezing, runny noses, red eyes and skin rashes.

> Mold can also cause asthma attacks.

>

> " We'll share any information about it with (the person) or their

> doctor, " Huyett said.

>

> Contact reporter Dyer at amandad@...<amandad%40lodinews.com>

> .

>

> For more on this story, return to http://www.lodinews.com for

> updates or see Saturday's News-Sentinel.

>

>

>