BISD to address mold-related expenses

April 17, 2002

htm

By Angeles Negrete Lares

The Brownsville Herald

Brownsville Independent School Board members will once again discuss mold

problems at Aiken Elementary and Besteiro Middle schools today. This time

the subject will be a status report on expenditures and claims relative to

the mold.

The discussion will come before the board's regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. at

the BISD administration building, 1900 Price Road.

" Regarding this issue (mold), the board members will discuss how much has

been expensed in taking care of the needs of the students, building

maintenance and BISD teachers, " BISD interim public information officer

Baltazar Cisneros said.

Cisneros would not estimate how much the district has spent on the issue.

The adjacent school buildings remain 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.

School officials have cited health concerns as the basis for closing the

schools. Parents and staff from both schools claim students and faculty are

suffering nosebleeds, headaches, seizures, earaches and other symptoms that

they attribute to mold exposure.

Most of the students are attending classes in portable buildings at other

campuses around the city.

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.

In other matters, the board will discuss credit card expenses, particularly

those of BISD Superintendent Noe Sauceda.

The report was request by the school board member Otis Powers Jr.

" After the credit card was approved August 21, the board hasn't received any

monthly report about the Sauceda credit card expenses. I never received

anything from them, " Powers said.

Also, the board will give an update on the construction of Paredes

Elementary.

The school technically opened last August, although the 26-classroom

building on Paredes Line Road remains unfinished. School officials expect it

to be completed in June. Meanwhile the school's 650 students and 70 staff

members are spread out among three campuses.

Recommended Posts