Contra  Costa Times

January 14, 2006
School to test for mold, asbestos

By Paula King
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

A teacher's fear that students and staff have been exposed to a toxic form of mold and asbestos on the aging Liberty High School campus has prompted the school to begin its own testing and move her class to a portable.

English teacher Tanya Smith and her students were moved out of the S-wing after samples from two mold colonies she obtained tested positive for moderately high amounts of stachybotrys. This form of black mold can affect respiratory and immune systems.

Smith endured an ongoing illness in December that she believes is related to an allergy that this type of mold can cause.

Also at issue is asbestos tile in the nearby 40-year-old Nash wing, which was potentially made more dangerous by cutting done during an ongoing construction project, Smith said.

In an e-mail sent to the Liberty staff this week, Smith said she had two samples of the mold in her classroom tested by an independent lab. She told on-site and district employees of her findings in December and spoke at a Liberty Union School District board meeting this week.

"We all share the common goal of protecting the health of our students," the teacher told the board.

Certified industrial hygienist Michael Connor said that mold is everywhere and excess water makes it worse.

"If you just have a colony of stachybotrys, it is unlikely that it is producing enough of these toxins for people to get sick. It would have to be an extreme situation," he said.

In her e-mail, Smith said it is common knowledge among Liberty teachers that tiles in Nash Hall's book room contain non-friable asbestos, the type that when disturbed by cutting can become air-borne.

She said that teachers and students who used that room for copying and gathering textbooks may have been exposed to potential asbestos when the flooring was cut during an ongoing construction project.

Smith took a loose piece of tile from the hall to a lab this week, and 5 percent of asbestos was detected, which she said is an amount that could be harmful.

Connor, however, said it depends on how much you inhale.

"It is not harmful unless you are inhaling asbestos fibers," he said. "You can have asbestos in a building and not have a problem."In response to Smith's concerns about mold, the district hired RGA Environmental to conduct air sample tests last Saturday in the S-wing. Those results are expected early next week."Our No. 1 priority has always been a safe environment for students and staff," Superintendent Dan Smith said.Air tests could determine whether there is a high concentration of spores in the air. Air sampling should be done inside and outside the classroom, Connor said.

At the board meeting, trustee Joanne Byer said the district is aware of the potential problem and that it will decide what to do once the air test results are in.

When heavy rains hit Tanya Smith's former classroom in November, maintenance staff removed the wall panels and ceiling tiles, the superintendent said.

"I felt that this was a good plan until I learned from the state department of health that this particular kind of mold becomes more potent when it is dried out and disturbed as would happen in any kind of construction project," Tanya Smith wrote.

The district is still researching whether the staff was exposed by renovating that room, the superintendent said. The school has never dealt with mold or asbestos issues in the past, he said.

"We are reviewing the methods that were used by our maintenance staff to make sure they met all appropriate guidelines and regulations," Dan Smith said.

Liberty principal Tim Halloran said school administration contacted maintenance and operations staff as soon as they learned of the potential mold in mid-November. He said that Tanya Smith was moved out of her former classroom and into a portable in mid-December as a precautionary measure.

At the board meeting, teachers union representative Aaron Simon said there could be similar mold problems at Freedom and Heritage high schools and that a district-wide approach should be taken.

Tanya Smith urged district leaders to begin a public dialogue about health and safety, hire a certified environmental consultant, appoint a remediation manager and adopt an environmental assessment plan. In her e-mail, she urged her colleagues to report environmental problems inside classrooms.

"I don't see this issue as an employment issue or a political issue, but a basic health and safety issue that needs to be addressed in a way that reassures the school community of being informed on both findings and planning measures," Tanya Smith wrote.