Arizona School Cleans Up Their Mold?

I read dozens of stories about schools with mold every week. Usually they follow the same procedure. Students and teachers see mold, smell mold, and experience health problems related to mold. They finally pressure the school board to do something about it. The school board “shows concern” by conducting air samples which show “there is no mold.” The mold victims continue to argue with the school. Nothing gets solved and the situation devolves into a legal battle with no winners.

That’s the typical story, so you can imagine why I’m pretty jaded when it comes to mold in schools. However, a school in Arizona is challenging my skepticism by – wait for it – actually cleaning up the mold in their school?

Mesa Public Schools has announced that it has restored mold-spore levels to a safe level in Red Mountain Ranch Elementary after parents and teachers raised concerns about poor indoor air quality since 2005. The school is now deemed safe since indoor mold levels are lower than those measured outside a building. The cleanup process cost about $50,000 with an extra $8,000 for testing. If this sounds like a lot of money, then consider how Oak Ridge Elementary spent $600,000 “investigating” their mold problem only to arrive at the conclusion that “there is no mold.”

So, the mold is cleaned up, the kids can go back to school, and everyone lives happily ever after, right? Sorry, but no. I remain doubtful.

First of all, Mesa’s logic for deeming the school safe is worrisome. They say the school has a lower level of indoor mold spores than outside. Even if this could be proven undoubtedly, it doesn’t take into account the types of mold that are growing in the school. Some mold is harmless, some is allergic, but a few are downright deadly.

Secondly, Mesa does not have a very good history of honesty when it comes to mold. Teachers have been complaining since 2005 about mold and previous air quality tests revealed no problems in February and March in this year. These tests were challenged when teachers pointed out visible mold. Finally, at the end of May a large amount of mold was found under the flooring and drywall. This seems to paint a picture of the school trying to hide the problem until they were confronted with it.

So if the tests did not show mold in the school in February and March, how can they be sure that the latest test after the remediation is accurate? It will be interesting to see how students and teachers react upon returning to the “clean” school at the end of the summer.

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