"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Parents to Roswell, NM Board: Mold can't be ignored
Parents and students crowded into a New Mexico school board meeting this week (Jan. 14, 2009), standing room only, to inform them of their concerns about a school with rooms that are clearly unsafe for occupancy, Goddard High School. The Roswell Independent School District (Roswell, NM) is subjecting Goddard High School students to basement classes held in 1960's fallout shelters that have, reportedly, "no ventilation" and alleged mold problems that have gone unaddressed, despite testing done by a district-contracted company that shows a significant problem with mold. Students are suffering from dire health problems, such as some having their extremities turn dark blue, when in those classrooms and being diagnosed with "lupus". Yet, inconceivably, these classrooms remain occupied.
We call for responsible behavior by the Roswell Independent School District (RISD), that the superintendent immediately close the basement classrooms and relocate the students to healthier, well-ventilated rooms. Immediately! We invite any concerned site visitors to contact RISD, perhaps by sending the superintendent a letter telling them why you feel as you do, to support this position: remove those students, immediately, out of the basement classrooms at Goddard High School! Do not remove any contaminated materials such as books and paper, to the new locations. Wipe down any desks and furniture per remediation guidelines before relocating. Best option - get all new, non-contaminated furniture and school supplies in the new, healthy locations.
We also call on the health department in Roswell, NM to act responsibly and close the classrooms in question, immediately.(SMH)
1/13/2009 10:25:00 PM
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Kevin Moore testifies in front of the Roswell ISD board Tuesday with several female students who fell ill as students at Goddard High School. (Daily Record/Jason Stewart)
Parents to Board: Mold can't be ignored
Jason Stewart Record Staff Writer
Students, parents and concerned citizens descended upon the Roswell Independent School Board meeting Tuesday with a common message: Something is making students sick at Goddard High School, and the problem cannot be ignored.
An overflow crowd of about people 130 filled the board room to watch 13 speakers offer testimony to the board. Several of the sick students stood with speakers in front of the board.
"You are not the enemy," Kevin Moore told the board. "We want to work within the system."
The board heard several graphic examples of students - all female - of headaches, stomach aches, sore throats, difficulty breathing, and discoloration of the hands. Stacie Green said that when the school nurse called her to pick up her daughter, the nurse described the color as "navy blue." Green's daughter was diagnosed with a form of lupus.
Several parents described the frustration of having children become ill and being told by local physicians that, when blood tests returned negative for known ailments, the illness was "in their heads."
The problems were compounded in several instances as honor students involved in student activities would delay reporting symptoms to avoid missing class or spending parent money on futile doctor visits.
The district commissioned three sets of air quality tests at Goddard.
The first test, conducted by Havona Environmental, sampled Rooms 19, 20 and 34 and found spores that exceeded the background sample. The sample air was taken in the school cafeteria instead of outside the school, and the level found in Room 19 was 13 times the level found in the cafeteria.
The second test, conducted by Rhoades Environmental, found elevated spore levels with the ventilation system turned off. The same rooms were tested, although neither of the first two tests were invasive.
The third test, conducted by Tetra Tech, emphasized the presence of Stachybotrys fungi capable of producing toxins. The testing was conducted in Rooms 19 and 34, in the main gymnasium and in the field house. Tetra Tech noted ceiling moisture in other rooms, but did not conduct tests in those rooms.
The district claimed that the tests showed that molds were not a threat to students at the school.
Paul Taylor, whose daughter Paige became ill as a student at Goddard, sued the district to require a full testing of the school for molds and toxins.
Goddard High School was built in 1964 and is the newest school building in the district. The basement level was designed to serve as a fallout shelter and has neither an open source of ventilation nor windows.
Theresa Kyser spoke of how her daughter's hands turn blue during her second period class in the basement. "We are caught in a lose-lose situation. Please consent to a test."
Wayne Schmid graduated from GHS in 1972 and wondered aloud why none of the problems he saw as a student, such as leaky pipes and inadequate ventilation, had changed "down in the bottom." He asked the board, "Is this what we paid for?"
