Health concerns raised at Tempe school

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Health concerns raised at Tempe school

The Arizona Republic, Phoenix,AZ*

and JJ Hensley

Dec. 21, 2007

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1220tr-

badair1221.html

The Tempe Union High School District is making a dramatic statement

as it pressures the state to pay for $17 million in repairs at one

high school.

It is telling state and local officials that malfunctioning

ventilation equipment, dripping mold and high carbon dioxide levels

at Tempe's Corona del Sol High School could be making people sick.

District studies and the findings of a consultant, compiled and

presented to officials last week, say that the school is plagued by

smelly classrooms, mold and high levels of carbon dioxide in the

air. advertisement

The move is the latest battle in an ongoing war between school

districts and the state School Facilities Board over renovation

funds. The Tempe district says it needs emergency funding from the

School Facilities Board to fix its ventilation problems and is

threatening to join a lawsuit against the state if it doesn't get

it.

The state board reviewed the district's request this summer. While

it acknowledged problems, including high CO{-2} levels, it

determined that they didn't merit emergency funding. The matter goes

before the board again in January.

Meanwhile, teachers at the school fear what's in the air, walls and

carpet - some believe it's even causing tumors.

School officials have said little about the reports publicly.

Pressed on Thursday, they said they don't believe the buildings make

people sick.

" To be very clear - if there had been things causing our people to

be ill or causing disease or those kinds of things, we wouldn't even

have the school even open, " Tempe Union High School district

Superintendent Steve Adolph said. " We want our school and staff to

be in an optimal quality environment. "

Studies the district paid for show that the air could " exacerbate

existing problems " such as breathing issues or a tendency to get

colds, said Littell, a Tempe district spokeswoman.

School's design

The high school serves 2,712 students, who generally come from some

of the city's most affluent neighborhoods. Another 200 or so

administrators, teachers and support staff also spend their days

there.

Built in 1977 with federal funds, Corona was heralded as a leading

innovation in energy conservation. Few windows and tight ceiling

space for mechanical equipment created less space to chill and warm.

But ultimately, officials say, this unusual design caused unintended

consequences.

Classroom air is stagnant because there is no place for old air to

flow. The small ceiling space leaves little room for new air units

hefty enough to do the job properly. The result: smelly classrooms,

mold and high CO{-2} levels.

The School Facilities Board did tests in 2001 that showed the air

met muster, but they were conducted early in the day before students

arrived.

The district, concerned with the methods of those tests, hired

Health Effects Group to do a comprehensive air-quality survey in

2006. The group concluded that the levels of carbon dioxide present

in Corona buildings during the school day exceeded levels accepted

by trade groups and the School Facilities Board's minimum

requirements for air quality.

The facilities board has so far refused to help fix the high school.

As a result, the district is considering joining a lawsuit against

the state if the board again refuses to help at a Jan. 25 hearing.

Complaints raised

Corona's East building, where a majority of the school's classrooms

are, is reportedly the location of most of the problems. Student and

teachers alike have complained over the years about funky smells,

musty air and mold showing up on walls, floors and in closets.

" The carpet became a breeding ground for mold, " Adolph said Thursday.

Last summer, several staff members voiced concerns to the district

about a " cancer cluster " in the East building, according to a

presentation district administrators gave to community leaders last

week.

Barb , a former Corona special-education teacher and current

City Council member, was diagnosed with a brain tumor this year.

She said she knows of eight other instructors who spent years

teaching in the East building and have had benign brain tumors or

other forms of cancer.

" It's a well-known fact that there have been years of concerns at

that school, and we talked about the unhealthy environment every

year, " she said.

Neither nor her doctor can attribute her brain tumor directly

to the mold or bad air.

But the clustering of cancer cases paired with the air problems

concerns .

" I remember mold and black gooey water dripping down the walls, "

said , who retired in 2005. " It looked like death, all

dripping down. An environment like that can't be good for anybody. "

Repairs under way

The district has tried to solve some of the problems by ripping out

drywall and carpeting in the high-traffic hallways.

Some of that work is ongoing.

Those repairs are part of the school's first phase of addressing the

problem. There's a phase two and three, too, but the school doesn't

know how it will pay for them.

Administrators with the School Facilities Board would not comment,

but Ortega, a sdale architect and board member, recalled

hearing Tempe Union's arguments before the board during the summer.

" It was my belief that perhaps at some point they might need to

evaluate whether there was substantial grounds for rebuilding the

school as opposed to continuing to chase problems, " Ortega said.

Tempe Union administrators were cool to that idea.

District officials will again ask the School Facilities Board for

emergency assistance at the hearing slated for Jan. 25. If they are

again turned down, the district will " be forced " to consider joining

the lawsuit against the state, Adolph said.

" If that is unsuccessful, we don't have any other avenue, " he said.

Schapira, a state representative from Tempe and member of the

House K-12 education committee, said Corona's problems were

indicative of a larger issue that legislators need to address.

" The School Facilities Board and the district, neither one has the

resources, apparently, to solve the problem at this time, " Schapira

said. " The state and the Legislature, we need to put our money where

our mouth is. "

Schapira said he would take up the school-funding issue when the

legislative session convenes next year.

" Corona del Sol is 30 years old, and we don't necessarily have the

expectation that schools are meant to last longer than that to begin

with, " Schapira said. " But that's no excuse. The question is, how

are we going to protect our kids? We've got to devote some resources

to fixing this building, or close it and build a new one. "