Out With the Mold

[Guest guest]

Out With the Mold

After placing Salinas kids in portable classrooms, district will sue

over leaky schools.

Monterey County Weekly,Seaside, CA*

By Zachary Stahl

http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2007/2007-Nov-

29/Article.news1/1/@@index

Students at César Chávez Elementary School in Salinas came back from

Thanksgiving break to find their former classrooms off limits. The

Alisal Union School District had closed the classrooms so it can

remove mold growing in the walls. Two rows of brown portables now

stand behind the basketball courts at César Chávez. Asphalt covers

about half of the school's soccer field.

At a cost of $2 million, the school district relocated 14

classrooms, a computer lab and bathrooms. Except for the

administration office, cafeteria and a few existing portables, the

district practically had to build a new school so it can fix the

old, moldy one.

Water seeped through the windows, roof and into the walls of the 11-

year-old school, allowing mold to flourish. The district closed four

classrooms at the Towt Street school this past summer due to water

leaks and mold concerns. But César Chávez is not the only water-

logged school in the district. Creekside, Steinbeck, and

Loya elementary schools have also closed moldy classrooms.

Additionally, the multi-purpose rooms of six other schools have been

closed because of water leaks.

While the district looks to repair its facilities, a legal battle

looms.

Rogelio Ruíz, attorney for the school district, says it will soon

file a lawsuit. Ruíz declined to say who the district will sue, but

the district has previously filed complaints against the general

contractors of the schools. Salinas-based general contractors

Dilbeck & Sons Inc. and Tombleson Inc. built the schools, court

documents show. Christensen Architects designed all the projects.

For now the district is focusing on keeping its classrooms safe,

says Esperanza Zendejas, the recently appointed superintendent.

" The mold is contained in the walls, " Zendejas says. " But if you

don't repair them, then eventually that could be a problem. "

Although mold is ubiquitous, mold spores can aggravate allergies and

cause symptoms such as sinus congestion, sore throat, skin

irritation, watery eyes and shortness of breath. Indoor molds can

also produce toxins, which may cause nausea, fatigue and respiratory

irritation.

Last fall, the district hired M3 Environmental Consulting to monitor

air quality at the four moldy schools. Gatward, principal of

the Monterey-based firm, says the molds found inside classrooms,

such as penicillium and cladosporium, are common molds that are also

found outdoors. Because there isn't a permissible exposure limit for

mold, Gatward says he measures the mold levels in the classroom and

compares it to the outside air.

Classrooms with elevated mold levels were shut down immediately,

Gatward says. " When we had even an inkling of a concern, the room

has been closed. "

Gatward says the mold growth at the schools is dormant, but that

could change once the winter rains start. Parents at César Chávez

school can rest easy, however, because their children are now in

portables.

Over the next several months the walls at César Chávez will be torn

out, the mold removed and the roof and windows fixed. The students

will remain in the portable classrooms through the summer while the

school is repaired.

Creekside School will undergo a similar transition to temporary

classrooms during winter break. Zendejas says there is comparable

water damage at Steinbeck and Loya schools, which will be

repaired this summer.

Plugging the leaks won't be cheap. Zendejas says it will cost

between $2 million and $3 million to repair each school, not

including the price of the portables. She says the district has

applied for special emergency construction funds from the state to

help pay for the remediation.

" I am concerned that this is going to cost a significant amount of

funding from one source or another, " Zendejas says, " but I think the

district has the obligation to provide the facilities for the

students. "

Ruíz, the district's attorney, says the soon-to-be-filed lawsuit

could help the district recover the costs of the repairs.

The district has been in and out of court with Tombleson Inc. since

2003. Currently, it has a pending cross complaint against Tombleson

and Christensen Architects for installing and designing faulty tiles

at Luther King Jr. Academy.

In the course of the district's investigation at MLK school, Ruíz

says, a consultant discovered that in addition to the tile, windows

and stucco were not properly installed. Tombleson in turn filed a

cross complaint against the school district for delaying the

construction project, and against its subcontractors for breach of

contract at MLK.

In August 2006 the Alisal district and Santa Rita Union School

District filed a joint suit against Tombleson Inc. and Dilbeck &

Sons, Christensen Architects and another defendant for improper

construction at 11 schools. Alisal dropped its complaint shortly

thereafter to do more research, Ruíz says. (Santa Rita is still

suing Tombleson, alleging that Tombleson was negligent in building

the multi-purpose room at La Joya Elementary School. Tombleson filed

a cross complaint against its subcontractors for the faulty work.)

Steve Locke, president of Tombleson Inc., says his company wants to

resolve the situation but declined to give details because of

pending litigation. " It's an unfortunate situation, " Locke

says. " Everyone is trying to find out what the problem is. "

Tombleson was the general contractor at Loya school while Dilbeck

oversaw the construction of Creekside, Steinbeck and César

Chávez schools.

Sharon Dilbeck, president of Dilbeck & Sons, says she hasn't dealt

with the issue since the district dismissed its case. She says there

could be several reasons why the schools have water leaks. " Is there

caulking around the windows that is leaking? Is there roof damage

somewhere? These schools go back 10 years or so. Have they been

maintained? I don't know. "

Frederick Christensen of Christensen Architects declined to speak

with the Weekly.