Brownsville Independent School District sues eight companies that built mold-plagued schools

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BISD sues eight companies that built mold-plagued schools

BY CRISELDA VALDEZ

THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

The Brownsville Independent School District is suing the architect,

engineers, air conditioning contractor and general contractor for Aiken

Elementary School and Besteiro Middle School.

Court documents indicate the suit was filed hours before school district

officials held a Jan. 7 informational session with parents, students and

staff from both schools, maintaining BISD administrators had " no concrete

evidence " as to the extent of the mold in the schools.

District officials did not disclose they had taken legal action at the time

and had no comment on the matter Wednesday.

The district is the only plaintiff named in the civil suit filed in the

138th state District Court, according to court records.

In the suit, the district claims it has been saddled with sizable financial

losses and seeks to recover damages as well as court costs.

The four-page petition alleges that defendants agreed to provide certain

services to the district for the design and construction of Aiken and

Besteiro but " failed to use ordinary care in the construction and/or

design . as required by law and by their agreements with the school

district. "

The conjoined Southmost area buildings are currently closed while the

district works with local and state agencies to test air quality and screen

mold samples collected from various surfaces inside the structures.

Mold was first discovered at the schools around 1999 and has been a

recurring problem - most recently displacing more than 1,800 students and

dozens of teachers while the buildings are cleaned of mold.

Eight firms associated with the construction process for the two schools are

named as defendants. They are: Stotler Construction Co., from Pharr, Coastal

Engineering, Inc., from San Benito, El Paso-based Carrol Dusang and Rand,

Inc., Mc-based D. Construction Company, Inc., Alamo Controls,

Inc. from Universal City, and CRC Engineering, Inc. from Edinburg, and RBM

Engineering, Inc., from El Paso and Air Conditioning, Ltd., from

.

The suit asserts that as a " direct result of the defendants' conduct, the

schools have suffered physical damage " and BISD has " suffered substantial

financial loss. "

The law firm of Constant and Vela is representing BISD. Attorneys at the

Corpus Christi-based firm were not immediately available for comment

Wednesday. Representatives of the firm said partners Constant and

Filemon B. Vela Jr. were out of the office.

Meanwhile, parents, students and staff from the affected schools filed suit

against all but two parties named in the district's petition. The district

is not named as a defendant in the action filed in late November.

The suit lists more than 350 plaintiffs that are being represented by local

attorney Zavaletta. RBM Engineering, Inc. and Alamo Controls, Inc. are

not listed as defendants in this suit.

BISD hired Assured Indoor Air Quality, a Dallas-based remediation firm, last

year to begin cleaning the moldy areas and investigate possible hazardous

mold growth in the schools.

Following the submission of what Superintendent Noe Sauceda called a

" developing document " from AIAQ on Jan. 2, administrators decided to close

the campuses and relocate students to portable buildings and empty

classrooms at other facilities.

In a prepared statement issued to parents of students from the affected

schools, BISD's top-level administrators said the decision to move students

resulted from " an abundance of caution " while " further mold testing is

conducted. "

During the Jan. 7 meeting with parents and staff, Assistant Superintendent

of Operations ny Pineda said school officials were aware there was mold

at the school but did not know the full extent of the growth.

During a question-and-answer session, one parent asked if the district had

any details concerning the extent of the mold. Pineda assured the group that

" As soon as we have anything to share with you, we will. We do not have

anything concrete. "