Schools scramble to rid buildings of mold

ST. CHARLES, Ill. -- Erik Silis spent his first day as a high school freshman navigating between a middle school and a cluster of trailers outside its doors.

Silis and 2,200 other St. Charles East High School students must put up with the makeshift arrangement for at least a year as their high school building is torn up and washed down. The culprit: mold, found throughout the school and blamed for headaches, fatigue and respiratory problems among students and staff.

Across the country, school districts are finding allergy-inducing mold in walls, on carpeting and near ventilation systems. Some administrators have shut down schools, while others face lawsuits from students and staff who say moldy buildings caused long-term health problems.

"In the public school setting, anyway, it's very reminiscent to me of the whole asbestos issue," said Francis Kostel, superintendent of District 303 in St. Charles, a suburb west of Chicago. "Every school in America probably has mold."

Can grow anywhere

Mold can grow just about anywhere that's warm and damp. Air quality experts say schools are vulnerable for a number of reasons, including the tendency of cash-strapped districts to delay maintenance and patch over leaks -- often the source of problems.

"Many adults are working in an environment that is cleaner, much cleaner than our schools," said Dr. Linda Ford, past president of the American Lung Association.

Older schools were built for energy efficiency, not to circulate fresh air, Ford said. A lack of ventilation can allow allergens such as mold to settle rather than blowing them out of a building, she said.

St. Charles East, for example, was state-of-the-art in the late 1970s, with solar panels and sealed windows to keep heating and cooling costs down. But the panels leaked, classrooms became stuffy and students and staff started feeling sick.

"My son started out with burning eyes," said Jenny Brooks, who has been fighting to close St. Charles East for four years. "The more we talked to people, the more we found out others had the same symptoms."

St. Charles East closed in April after a battery of environmental tests found mold in drywall, ceiling tiles, cabinets and underneath kitchen sinks. The closure came on the heels of a lawsuit filed by a former student who blames conditions there for her headaches, fatigue and a chronic sinus infection.

Silis said the first few days of school have been chaotic, but he's most frustrated by the thought of feeling like a freshman again next year.

"Whenever they do something with the school, we'll have to start all over again," he said.

Legal battles elsewhere

Other school districts also are in legal battles over mold. Three teachers in West Carrollton, Ohio, sued their district for $6 million last month, claiming they got sick because of mold that school officials knew was in their schools. A principal in Jefferson, La., sued over toxic fumes in her school she said made her ill; mold was found near her office.

School officials in East Cleveland, Ohio, and Romeo, Mich., recently closed schools infested with mold and are scrambling to find room for students.

"This is something our administrators are seeing a lot more of," said Ericka Plater, an indoor air quality project manager for the American Association of School Administrators.

Plater said some schools districts have put off proper maintenance because of a lack of funds.

Black stachybotrys mold, found in St. Charles East, has been linked to skin rashes, difficulty in breathing, bloody noses, headaches and neurological problems.