Water worries Leaks, mold concern school

[Guest guest]

Water worries

Leaks, mold concern school

San Bernardino Sun - San Bernardino,CA*

Leung, Staff Writer

12/23/2007

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_7796178

FONTANA - Many rejoiced when some much-needed rain arrived in recent

weeks, but not the students and teachers at Kaiser High School.

Because when it rains there, it really pours.

Take Garth Masik's computer class. During lunchtime earlier this

month, a ceiling tile in his room gave way to what Kathy ,

the teacher next door, described as a " waterfall coming out of the

ceiling. "

" The door was opened between our two rooms and all of a sudden I

heard what sounded like somebody jumping in the pool, "

said. " A one-foot sheet of water was coming out of the ceiling. "

Kaiser High, on Almond Avenue, is just nine years old - too young to

have yellowed ceilings and soggy carpets. The Fontana Unified School

District says it is fixing the problems, but some teachers are

worried that signs of an ailing school - found in classrooms, the

administration building and the library - are proof that the

school's health is in decline.

Math teacher Meredith Hergenrader says it's not just the school

that's unhealthy. She's been having health problems for years while

working in Building D, a modular building, and believes the culprit

is toxic mold. Her doctor has diagnosed her with hypersensitive

pneumonitis - a lung disease - and said she's allergic to

aspergillus, a common mold.

This school year, Hergenrader has missed nearly 30 days of school

due to illness. She said her condition improves when she's not in

her classroom.

" They need to figure out why the building is causing me to be sick, "

Hergenrader said.

According to Larry Wilkie, director of risk management for Fontana

Unified, the school district has responded to concerns by cleaning

the duct system and air conditioner and removing the carpeting. The

district also conducted two mold tests, one in October and another

this month.

Annie of EMLab P & K, which analyzed the October test

conducted by Wilkie, confirmed that the amount of indoor mold at the

school was negligible.

Ben Kollmeyer of Forensic Analytical Consulting Services, which

conducted the December test, said after a visual inspection,

moisture readings in the walls and analysis of air samples, it was

determined that the indoor air was comparable to the outdoor air and

the mold spore count was normal.

But testing for mold can be a tricky task, said -Ganser of

the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a

division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mold spores can be easy to miss, she said, and test results often

hinge on when samples are taken.

" Don't let water damage carry on, " -Ganser said. " It's not rocket

science. It's obvious, but schools often don't have the budget to

fix everything. "

Before the carpet was taken out of Hergenrader's classroom, the

smell was hard for some students and staff to bear.

Sophia Alaniz, one of Hergenrader's students, said before the

carpeting was removed that the classroom sometimes made her eyes red

and heavy.

Art teacher Alison Denning has heard about those symptoms before.

Ten years ago, the Kaiser High teacher taught at Southridge Middle

School and claims that the musty classrooms there gave her and her

students flu-like symptoms that made it impossible to conduct a

class.

Denning said the environment at the Southridge school permanently

damaged her lungs. She filed a lawsuit against the school district.

Ten years later, the suit is still pending.

She said officials at the Southridge school weren't accommodating,

but the administration at Kaiser High is sensitive to her needs.

Denning also has had water drip on her at Kaiser High and suspects

the problems are intrinsic to the school's modular buildings.

Kingsley, director of maintenance and operations, said that

while some of the structures are considered modular buildings, they

are on permanent foundations.

He said leaking sometimes happens when outsized equipment is

delivered by dropping it through the ceiling after the building is

constructed.

" If it's something that we can't fix, we use a major roof repair

company to get to the leak, " Kingsley said.

Complaints about the school's administration and library building

ceased after the roof was rebuilt to stop the leaks there, Kingsley

said.

Earlier this month, a bad valve on an irrigation line flooded the

elevator shaft of the administration building.

One thing that continues to puzzle school employees is the tapestry

from the Kaiser Steel Mill that hangs in the library.

Sporadic black spots have formed on the artwork, casting dark clouds

over once bright scenery.

" It certainly didn't look like that when I first started working

here, " Denning said