Black mold is cited in lawsuit against schools

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MT. CLEMENS: Black mold is cited in lawsuit against schools

January 4, 2002

The father of a 9-year-old Washington Elementary schoolgirl is suing the

Romeo Community School District, saying his daughter is suffering illnesses

because of black mold contamination at the school.

Garth of Washington Township filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of

his daughter, Meagan, a second-grader.

The lawsuit filed in Macomb County Circuit Court claims Meagan is suffering

from asthma, sore throats, headaches and dizziness due to exposure to black

mold.

" It was very bad during the time she was attending school there and she was

constantly ill, " said the family's attorney, Alan Wittenberg of Southfield.

" We're very concerned about long-term effects this may have on her and other

students there. "

District Superintendent Kingsnorth did not return phone calls on

Thursday.

Wittenberg said he has been contacted by other parents and is considering a

class action.

The lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount of money, claims the school

district knew or should have known that there was a dangerous condition at

the school with mold and not enough was done to correct it. Specifically,

the school's roof and ceiling were defective and black mold bred there,

according to the lawsuit.

" The primary concern is that this doesn't happen again, " Wittenberg said.

Faculty and staff at Washington Elementary in Washington Township have

complained for more than a decade that something in the building was making

people ill. In 1999, Nova, an Ann Arbor company, examined the building and

found mold, but nothing that was considered dangerous -- and no

stachybotrys, often called black mold and considered potentially dangerous.

In June 2001, Wonder Makers of Kalamazoo did a similar study at the school

and found stachybotrys in two areas.

In August, parents and teachers in a packed Romeo High School auditorium

were shown slides of moldy ceilings and heard a report on stachybotrys.

That led to an expensive cleanup project at Washington and testing in all

the district's schools. Cleanup costs could reach $2 million. Washington

Elementary's estimated 500 students have been attending school elsewhere

while crews clean the building.

Students, including Meagan, are to return to Washington Elementary on Jan.

18, Wittenberg said.

By Ben Schmitt

http://www.freep.com/news/mich/date4_20020104.htm

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