Mold eradication a losing battle - Broward County School District

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Mold eradication a losing battle

By Bill Hirschman

Education Writer

January 14, 2002

Disorganization and costly waste have undercut the Broward School District's

war on mold and mildew, which is blamed for widespread illness among

students and staff at numerous schools, an internal audit says.

The audit discloses shoddy repair work, inadequate coordination and poor

planning in the $44 million project aimed at eradicating the root causes of

the mold and mildew problem at 155 schools.

On Tuesday, the School Board will discuss concerns raised in the audit,

including:

" Substandard " repairs at eight schools. For example, the district spent more

than $365,000 patching roofs at South Broward High to seal water leaks, but

the work deteriorated so quickly it had to be ripped out and replaced four

years later.

>Eleven air conditioning units worth more than $300,000 sat exposed to the

elements in a bus lot because construction projects were not ready to

install them.

>Air quality consultants and engineers with two or more firms were hired to

identify problems and solutions at the same schools. Some officials

countered that these firms do slightly different jobs.

For a decade, rampant mold and mildew in dozens of schools have caused or

aggravated respiratory problems among children, educators and staffers.

Reports ranged from headaches, coughing, sneezing, dizziness and an

inability to focus on schoolwork. Experts blame it for increased

absenteeism, reduced productivity and deteriorating cooling equipment.

Mold and mildew are inevitable in Florida's environment. But complaints that

it had reached health-threatening levels exploded in the early 1990s.

The School Board, after trying various quick fixes, committed $44 million in

its 1998 five-year capital improvement budget to eradicating the root causes

at 155 schools.

Among the key causes were shoddy workmanship and poor designs that allowed

rainwater to seep either through the stucco or through joints in the roof.

Trapped inside the walls, mold and mildew flourished. Water rotted the

interior walls, tackboards and attached cabinets.

The district changed its approach from trying to simply clean up the mold to

trying to prevent it. The district began funding projects to put new caps on

roof work where water seeped in, reviving the mold.

Keen, a science teacher at Western High School's ninth-grade annex,

said his doctor has him taking allergy shots " to survive. "

" It starts with a headache. Then comes the sinus infection, you think you're

getting a cold, and your voice goes, " he said. " Last year, it went into my

chest. I had pains in my stomach and diarrhea from hell. "

The audit does not directly address the program's effectiveness in reducing

health problems. Instead, it concentrates on the project's confusion and

waste.

For example, at Coral Park Elementary, the replacement of mini-blinds

received a higher priority than sealing stucco where water seeped in.

The report is based on spot checks at City, Plantation, South Broward

and Stoneman high schools, and Central Park, Croissant Park, Coral

Park and Virginia Shuman Young elementaries.

Croissant Park in Fort Lauderdale was one of the first schools where

problems in design and workmanship were directly blamed for worsening mold

problems -- even before the school opened its doors. Outraged parents and

teachers at Virginia Shuman Young, also in Fort Lauderdale, have been among

the most vocal about the ineffectiveness of efforts to clean up the problem.

, a Shuman Young parent activist, said auditors visiting the

school last year " needless to say, they were quite shocked. My surprise was

how surprised they were. "

District officials in the construction, maintenance and risk management

departments contend much of the disorganization is in the past or on the

cusp of being corrected.

But they agree that some criticisms need attention.

First, the district's mold-fighting efforts -- currently split among at

least three departments -- need to be coordinated. While they work together,

" a more comprehensive plan is needed on how we go ahead, who they are

reported to, how they are monitored and how we remediate them, " said Jeff

Moquin, director of risk management

For instance, often mold would be cleaned off air conditioning coils or

classroom walls, but work to stop water leaking from the roof -- the source

of the problem was scheduled for months or even years later. Rain would leak

in; the mold would flourish again.

Now the district is fixing health-threatening conditions as they are

reported, but otherwise officials are " bundling " all projects concerning air

quality at one school and prioritizing them like emergency room doctors

triaging patients, said Deputy Superintendent Tom Calhoun.

Second, " the audit gave us an epiphany " that custodians, principals, even

teachers need to be taught some simple concepts that prevent problems from

recurring, Calhoun said. Many think that keeping a school cold inhibits

mold. In fact, super cold air in a building, mixing with warm air from doors

left open, creates condensation, a formula that breeds bacteria.

More work is needed in preventive maintenance to keep air conditioning

systems from wearing out.

Staffers operating air conditioning systems should report to the maintenance

department, not principals who may insist on conditions that foster mold.

Education Writer Malernee contributed to this report.

Bill Hirschman can be reached at bhirschman@... or

954-356-4513.

Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel