Teacher says school mold made her sick (What does this sound like?)

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Article from IEQ Review

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(http://www.imakenews.com/pureaircontrols/e_article001397734.cfm?x=bfnb5qB,bsr9C\

FP) ) November 4, 2008

Teacher Says School Mold Made Her Sick

_fox23.com_ (http://fox23.com/)

by Sinovic - Reporter

A green country school teacher says her school has a mold problem that made

her sick and could make your children sick. She filed a lawsuit that the

school district settled out of court. But she says the school district

hasn’t

fixed the problem.

In a solving problems investigation, FOX23’s Sinovic found out there

may be a mold problem in your child’s school.

The teacher we spoke with taught at Broken Arrow high school during the

last school year. She said she couldn’t finish the school year because she

had

so many health problems. In fact, the Broken Arrow School District settled

with her out of court and she says, the district paid $2,000 for her medical

bills.

FOX23 also found out she wasn’t the only one who’s complained about the

mold problem at the high school. Since the ’06-’07 school year,

found

the school documented a total of six mold complaints.

The teacher spoke with said the mold in her school building made her

so sick she couldn’t work. She did not want to show her face because of the

backlash she said she’s already received from the school district. She said

she understands why other teachers haven’t come forward.

She said, “There had been some other teachers complaining about the problem.

I talked to my department head and she said, ‘well there’s been a problem

here and we’ve threatened to call the news for years but we’ve all been

worried about our job security’.â€

She showed pictures she took just outside her classroom door in the hallway.

She described them. “There was this brown and green stuff growing on the

ceiling.â€

She said, she’d never been sick like she was during the ’07-’08 school

year.

“I had had bronchitis… I was so short of breath, I was coughing

constantly I was wheezy.â€

After she left, even the workers compensation doctor diagnosed her with “

reactive airway diseaseâ€.

But during the school year, every time she complained, school officials

said, the test results showed the classroom was safe.

Broken Arrow Schools public information officer Isbell told ,

after every one of the six mold complaints during the past 2.5 years, the

school tested for mold. Only one of those tests caused any concern for the

school. After every other complaint, Isbell says, the tests proved the school

was

safe.

Then, got an expert opinion from Dr. Estelle Levetin. She’s an expert

in the field and the head of University of Tulsa’ biology department. She

said the school district doesn’t have any proof at all.

Levetin said, “This is certainly not good enough to know for sure if there’

s a mold problem or no problem.â€

She noticed the school custodian, not a professional, was collecting the

samples.

Levetin said, “They’re not using indoor investigators, qualified indoor

investigators would do a walkthrough and note signs of moisture, they may even

have probes that can determine the moisture content of ceiling tiles and

sheet rock.â€

That’s exactly the kind of company other school districts like Jenks and

Tulsa Public schools hire when there’s a possible mold problem. Another TU

professor who works with TPS to monitor any mold in schools told that the

type of testing used by Broken Arrow schools is “completely useless†when

trying to identify specific mold problems.

In the meantime, Broken Arrow schools stands by its testing.

Isbell said, “I think we’re satisfied with the way we’ve conducted the

maintenance of our high school so far.â€

The teacher who made complaints said she doesn’t believe the school

district is doing everything it can to make the school safe. She said

there’s a

reason why she isn’t the only one who’s made a complaint.

She said, “It was never about my medical bills, it was about the environment

that these kids are in and the environment that the staff is being asked to

put up with.â€

_http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Teacher-Says-School-Mold-Made-Her-Sick/

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(http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Teacher-Says-School-Mold-Made-Her-Sick/Dt\

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