Official says school's air problems could have led to illness

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Sept. 29, 2007,

Official says school's air problems could have led to illness

Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX*

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5174621.html

HOUSTON — After inspecting a middle school where dozens of employees

and students have reported being sick, an expert with the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention said she found several air-

quality problems there that could have led to sickness.

But Burton, an industrial hygiene expert with the CDC, said

Friday that the specific cause of the illnesses that have been

reported since August will likely never be determined.

Burton, who inspected the school and met with employees for two days

this week, said school officials initially underestimated the extent

of the mold and humidity problems at Key Middle School.

" It has problems, but there are ways to address them, " she

said. " The school district is starting to do that and is working on

making it an environment that would be safe to work in. "

Burton and her CDC colleagues probably won't issue formal findings

for several months.

Burton said the symptoms reported by those at Key — including

nausea, dizziness and difficulty breathing — are similar to those

reported by others exposed to overly damp buildings.

She said the district should continue cleaning up the visible mold

at Key, controlling the humidity through the ventilation system and

limiting the water drainage that can accumulate under the building.

Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, said

the CDC inspection shows the district should have acted quicker when

her staff first raised concerns about Key in late August.

Three weeks after the teacher's union demanded the building's

evacuation, the district said students and teachers would be

temporarily removed. District officials have maintained since early

September that the building was safe.

Key has been holding classes since Monday at nearby Fleming Middle

School, an arrangement district spokesman Terry Abbott said will

likely continue through at least December.

" We made the best decisions we could make with the information we

had at the time, " Abbott said Friday. " Keep in mind, we had

independent, outside experts who said the building was safe for

occupancy. "

District officials asked the CDC to inspect Key after U.S. Rep.

Sheila Lee, D-Houston, invited the federal agency to tour

the school at the request of the teachers' union.

Before that, the district had hired a private contractor which

concluded that its tests for mold and other toxins didn't turn up

any major problems. The city health department and the fire

department also ran tests.

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Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com