According to a Government Accounting Office report, twenty percent of America's 80,000 public schools have indoor air quality problems. (USA Weekend, Aug 18-20, 2002) Listed here are just some of the reports that exist regarding this problem.

LA TIMES, FEB26, 2002: Opening of New High School Is Delayed by Mold; Education: L.A. Unified says the removal of the possible health hazard from the Sun Valley campus will put off its debut until July 2003.
The Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles, Calif.; Feb 26, 2002; DAVID PIERSON;

ABSTRACT
The mold discovered on stairway walls in the DWP building is believed to be caused by water that leaked from a glass atrium. Exponent Consultants, the firm hired by the DWP two weeks ago to evaluate the building, determined that the walls must be replaced, said Hal Lindsey, DWP's director of corporate health and safety.

The new school, which was bought from the DWP for $50 million, would have accommodated 800 students in September and 400 more several months later, said Judy Burton, superintendent of the district's northeast Valley area.

The building's first three floors are still being used by the DWP as administrative offices. Lindsey said air samples have found the building to be safe for the DWP workers. Nevertheless, he said, it was necessary to inspect the building and replace walls because mold has become an emotional issue for students, parents and educators.

FULL ARTICLE AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AT www.latimes.com

. In February 2000, Hill Elementary School in Austin, Texas, evacuated all 777 pupils when large amounts of Stachybotrys and Penicillium due to roof leaks were found. Several teachers and kids needed medical care. This school year, pupils and staff will remain at an alternate site while Hill is gutted and renovated. El Paso has spent $4.2 million for mold-related renovations of 14 schools, says Ed Sevcik, former director of facilities for the school district. "We're moving as fast as we can," he says. "I don't think El Paso is any different from any other district facing this problem. The funds just aren't there." (USA Weekend, Aug 20,2000)

Mold Contamination Ends Teaching Career

Staffers at the McKinley School in Fairfield, Connecticut used to joke about "teaching a rain forest unit" each time they saw painters scrape mold off the walls of their aging, water-saturated school.

But the joke ended when special education teacher Joellen Lawson removed mold-contaminated materials from her classroom in June 1998.

Lawson's overexposure to mycotoxins-produced by millions of stachybotrus, penicillium, and aspergillus mold spores in the air-sent her to the emergency room with severe vertigo, vomiting, diarrhea, and tremors.

Mold contamination at McKinley was so bad, in fact, that parents pulled sick kids from the school, forcing its permanent shutdown in October 2000.

Dr. John Santilli, chief of allergy and immunology at St. Vincent's Medical Center, Bridgeport, has seen allergies, "horrendous" sinus disease, asthma, or cognitive problems among some 50 students and staffers he has treated from the McKinley School.

"Some McKinley students have developed asthma for the very first time," the physician reports, "and there have been anecdotal stories of miscarriages and cancer."

One of Santilli's most serious cases is that of Joellen Lawson. Her body simply couldn't handle such intense exposure to mycotoxins, and she never regained her health.

Today on retirement disability, Lawson continues to suffer from well-documented neurological, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and sensory disturbances.

"I'm devastated," she says, "by the loss of a very fulfilling, 23-year career as a classroom teacher, educational consultant, seminar leader, and private tutor."

This dedicated educator hopes to be well enough to testify in favor of strong school environmental quality legislation that will be reintroduced in the Connecticut legislature next February. "I want to prevent someone else from going through my experience," she explains.

And count on Dr. Santilli to testify as well. "Nobody was ever exposed to these levels of mycotoxins until schools deteriorated," he points out. "Now I'm seeing cognitive problems in kids from other schools besides McKinley, along with eczema and anaphylactic problems.

"We need to do more research on mycotoxins," the physician concludes, "and the Environmental Protection Agency needs to develop standards on how to evaluate mold and contaminants in schools and other public buildings." 4

To read a consultant's technical report on conditions in the McKinley School, go to www.fairfield.k12.ct.us/TurnerReport.pdf.

(NEA Today, November 2001, www.nea.org/neatoday/0111/news3.html)