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Key Middle School, in Houston Independent School District (HISD), has experienced a botched remediation - actually, not a remediation at all, following extensive building-related illnesses in the Fall of 2007, with a painfully delayed removal of teachers and students to allow correction of the dampness and mold. After spending $3 million in a manner that was NOT in accordance with recommendations nor government guidelines for schools with mold, this district and Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra have now been accused of irresponsible behavior. Meanwhile, Key Middle may require closure and demolition - not a surprise, after the alleged gross negligence described regarding the maintenance of this building in past years. We are saddened that HISD wasted taxpayer money and now are exposing the recently returned Key staff and students to more dangerous microbes by not remediating, but rather, conducting construction activities that undoubtedly disturbed the mold colonies, making the problems worse (SMH).
Read the multiple articles below on this topic. Read the CDC report on Key Middle before the botched remediation, also.
Editorial
May 9, 2008, 10:08PM
Botched assignment
District's handling of middle school contaminated by mold deserves a failing grade
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5768843.html
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
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After first disavowing a health threat to sickened teachers and students at Key Middle School and then spending $3 million to treat mold contamination, Houston Independent School District Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra is considering demolishing the northside facility.
In the nine months since the mysterious illnesses were first reported, the district leadership has made one misjudgment after another, first implying that dozens of teachers were feigning sickness as a union organizing tactic, then delaying for weeks the removal of staff and students to safety. The performance calls into question whether top HISD officials merited those hefty bonuses this year.
In response to appeals by teachers who had received emergency room treatment, the superintendent told concerned parents in September that until there was proof of a serious problem, students would continue to be taught at Key. This was after the principal of the school, Mable Caleb, had begun wearing a filtered mask at work to deal with an allergic reaction that had caused her face to swell.
Only through the intervention of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee did Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Environmental Protection Agency agents visit the school and confirm the presence of mold and ventilation problems. Key students were transferred to Fleming Middle School.
Although HISD carried out extensive cleaning and renovations, Houston Federation of Teachers President Gayle Fallon says the work did not include replacing an inadequate air and heating system and sealing gaps in windows that allowed moisture to infiltrate the building. "Even when they identified what the problem was," Fallon said, "HISD didn't even try to fix it. They did everything but."
Equally troubling is the fact that no systematic effort has been made to screen the mostly middle- and low-income students to determine whether their exposure to the unidentified contaminants places their health at risk.
With the likelihood that Key students will have to be permanently relocated next school year to another campus, parents are concerned that they will be moved into nearby Kashmere High School, creating a school spanning grades 6 or 7 through 12. Many parents fear the mixing of younger students, particularly girls, on a campus with much older boys will prove a recipe for trouble. It's a valid point that administrators should not dismiss.
Having gotten so much wrong and wasted $3 million in their handling of the Key Middle School situation, it's time district administrators stopped dictating and started listening to the views of parents and teachers.
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fatdog wrote:
I am new to this area and don't have the history of how Mr. Saavedra came to be in his position, but have little doubt that he should be looking for a new line of work. OSHA was created for several reason, among them to give employees an additional help line. Too bad OSHA does not apply to school teachers; if it did OSHA could have stepped in, and in the process of protecting the teachers, protected the students. Clearly Mr. Saavedra has little interest in protecting the health and welfare of his employees or his students.
5/10/2008 4:37 AM CDT
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MichaelR wrote:
fatdog welcome to Houston and since you don't know Mr. Saavedra let me fill you in.
He came to Houston several years ago with a spotty record from South Texas, yet he was hired anyway. At times he has done a few good things, but he has demonstrated on too many occasions that he makes bad decisions and he is often insensitive to teachers and others in the way he conducts himself.
This is just one example of his marginal or poor work habits, albeit a very expensive one at that. He has consistently paid himself big bonuses for mediocre performance. And based on performance as you have so aptly concluded he needs to go. This would be a racially sensitive firing so I predict poor performance and all he will be here for a long, long time. A three million dollar error will get you fired from any normal business.
Again, welcome to Houston.
5/10/2008 3:05 PM CDT
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Trains682 wrote:
How much you wanna bet as soon as they decide to tear this school down and replace it, mold will mysteriously appear at another older school a community wants replaced at huge taxpayer expense . . . . .
5/10/2008 3:07 PM CDT
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NoMoreSchoolMold wrote:
The description, above, of this district's shocking negligence should inspire the desire to hire those who can show responsible action in the face of crises. What is happening NOW to the Key students? Even a few minutes in an unsafe, damp, moldy building can be life threatening for some. Visit www.schoolmoldhelp.org (Welcome page) to find out how a Nevada Health Dept inspector died recently just from such an exposure. This school should be closed NOW. The public is ultimately responsible, as well, for insisting on safety.
5/10/2008 7:15 PM CDT
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Houston & Texas News
May 9, 2008, 9:32PM
District could shutter Key permanently
Despite millions spent renovating campus, HISD wonders if school can be saved
http://www.chron.com/apps/pluck/login.mpl?url=http%3A//www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5768865.html
By JENNIFER RADCLIFFE
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
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HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said Friday he's considering permanently closing Key Middle School, just months after the school district spent $3 million improving the trouble-plagued campus.
Under that scenario, Key students would be sent to nearby campuses, Saavedra said. He rejected calls from some in the predominantly black northside community to rebuild the campus from the foundation.
"We would have an empty building. We would either sell the building or lease it out," Saavedra said. "We could also use it for administrative purposes."
Key's sixth-graders would likely spend an extra year on an elementary school campus. Seventh- and eighth-graders would probably be moved to Kashmere High School, which is currently well below capacity, Saavedra said.
At Thursday's school board meeting, Key parents and teachers called on HISD to rebuild the school where many employees reported falling ill last school year. Many said they oppose sending middle school-aged children to Kashmere.
Employees said HISD's effort to repair the building, where some staff members continue to report feeling ill, has been in vain.
"Plants could survive in these conditions, but not humans," English teacher Debra Berry said. ''The taxpayers of the community deserve a safe place for their children to learn."
Trustee Carol Mims Galloway, who represents Key, said HISD should rebuild Key at its existing site. Students could be housed in temporary buildings on the land until the construction is complete. "You, the people, are the ones we're supposed to be listening to," she said.
Saavedra said a new campus is not an option.
"It's a good building. I have no scientific evidence ... that human beings should not occupy that building," he said. "If parents prefer that their kids be elsewhere, I'm prepared to accommodate them."
Saavedra said he must decide on the school's future soon.
"What I need to decide is whether we continue to improve the building ... or if this building will never be good enough for parents and children," he said.
Saavedra said he is also mulling whether to spend more money on Key over the summer.
Nancy Burton, a workplace safety expert with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, visited Key last month as a follow-up to her inspection before the renovations.
"It's better. It's not there yet," Burton said, "but as far as I'm concerned, it's fixable."
Burton said the district needs to replace the school's old windows, which are contributing to leaks, and to dehumidify the air — possibly adding special dehumidifiers.
Physical education teacher Sheri Teinert said the district's philosophy so far has been to "patch it, wipe it, cover it, deny it and then hide it under paint. ... We have been treated as cheaters and liars. Now it's time to treat us as human beings," she said.
The school board has scheduled a meeting for 3 p.m. Wednesday to vote on a plan.
Chronicle reporter Ericka Mellon contributed to this story.
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HOUSTON METRO
What will happen to Key Middle School?
http://www.khou.com/news/local/houstonmetro/stories/khou080509_rm_keymiddle_.e45ce0d8.html
03:16 PM CDT on Friday, May 9, 2008
KHOU.com staff report
HOUSTON—The battle over what to do with Key Middle School is heating up again.
But Friday HISD Superintendent Abe Saveedra said if he’s forced to close the school and tear it down, he will not rebuild another school.
The district just completed a $3 million renovation at the school after teachers and staff complained mold was making them sick.
The school recently reopened after several months, but some parents say it’s still not suitable.
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