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Tanya Smith, teacher, tested her school for dangerous molds and asbestos...OSHA followed up with citations! The district followed up with an involuntary transfer for Tanya.
CA Teacher is Heroine: Alerts Parents, with Strength and Honor
THE MONDAY PROFILE
Mold-fighting teacher helps school district clear the air
By Paula King
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Herman Bustamante Jr./Times
Liberty High School English teacher Tanya Smith has gotten sick this year at the Brentwood school while working in
classrooms with mold and asbestos.
Audio: Smith on growing up in Brentwood (MP3)
Audio: Smith talks about mold, asbestos (MP3)
BRENTWOOD - It was a letter that arrived via certified mail from Erin Brockovich's law firm that convinced English
teacher Tanya Smith to keep speaking out about safety and health issues on her campus.
The letter from Masry & Vititoe Law Offices made Smith realize the urgency of dealing with the mold and asbestos
exposure on Brentwood's Liberty High School campus. At the same time, Cal-OSHA was in the process of fining the
Liberty Union High School District $14,690 and issuing 13 citations for this matter.
"That made me think, well, if there is a statute of limitations and I'm not informing parents, then I become liable and
part of the problem," Smith said of the letter, which came in late March.
Last winter, Smith suffered from a persistent cough and was later moved out of her classroom after two samples she
collected came back positive for a toxic form of mold. This prompted the usually shy teacher to file a complaint with
Cal-OSHA, which led to an investigation of the aging campus.
Her persistence in urging the school district to create an environmental plan and safety committee has branded her
as "Tanya Brockovich" and a "whistle-blower" among Liberty faculty.
"This one (issue) seemed to have immediate health consequences, and then the long-term health consequences
seemed very urgent as well," she said.
Upon hearing the recent news that Smith was being involuntarily transferred to Brentwood's new high school,
students, teachers and community members have rallied around the 1996 Liberty graduate. They have been sporting
stickers that read "Save Mrs. Smith," voicing their support at school board meetings and signing a petition in support
of her remaining at Liberty.
"Tanya has shown great courage and tenacity in the face of tremendous adversity," said retired Liberty teacher Bill
Batze. "This experience has made her a better teacher."
The young teacher of five years has been described by colleagues as dedicated, articulate and intelligent.
Meanwhile, some have accused Smith of destroying Liberty's image and that has made the experience painful and
isolating.
"Tanya's courage has been stunning through the entire ordeal and continues to be so," said Liberty English teacher
Beth Decker. "Every step of the way she has been professional, dignified and fair."
Brentwood City Councilwoman and fellow Liberty teacher Ana Gutierrez remembers Smith as a Liberty classmate
who helped her in student politics. Gutierrez described Smith as intelligent and hardworking, the kind of student who
would feel bad about throwing off the grading curve for fellow classmates.
"If she believes in you or an idea, she believes in it wholeheartedly," Gutierrez said. "When Tanya saw that there
was a need in our school for light to be shed on health and safety issues, one of the bravest things she did was point
it out because it was the right thing to do morally."
She added that it is incredibly tough for someone as shy as Smith to be thrust into the spotlight over such a
contentious issue and that most people don't realize how much research she has done to protect students, including
her own sister, who is a Liberty junior.
Smith has been digging for answers and asking questions for years as a student and professional journalist. She
wrote for several newspapers while attending Brigham Young University, including the Deseret News in Salt Lake
City and the Daily Herald in Provo and even taught high school journalism.
As a reporter at the Fremont Argus, Smith investigated a lot of Brown Act violations. After doing so much research,
Smith is now considering going to law school to practice advocacy law.
"She is a journalist. She knows how to find information and use it," Gutierrez said.
Part of the reason that Smith doesn't want to leave Liberty, though, is because she holds several leadership positions
there. She is the shared governance council chairwoman, a small learning community coordinator, and has been
instrumental in the Biz-Tech Academy's success.
Born in Singapore with half Filipino heritage, Smith's family settled in Union City when she was 5. Because of her
worldly experiences, Smith didn't want to move to Brentwood as a teen or move there again as an adult.
"Your big goal in high school is to leave Brentwood," she said. "Now here I am trying to have a voice in the
community and get the parents to rally on school issues. So it is ironic that I would do this."
Spending her teenage years in the once-small town of Brentwood was a tough transition for Smith. She described
herself as someone who stood out among her peers.
"People who knew me back then remember me as being quiet," Smith said. "I went to a private college and felt like
I needed to speak out more."
Within her family, Smith is known as the stubborn one. Students know her as a strict and regimented teacher who
wants to prepare them for the real world.
Smith has appealed the Heritage High transfer to the school board and is awaiting a decision. District Superintendent
Dan Smith said the transfer is not retaliatory.
"We share concern with the issues of health and safety that Tanya has brought to our attention," he said. "Certainly,
health and safety of students and staff is the highest priority."
At last week's board meeting, David Weintraub, one of Smith's attorneys, asked the school district to reconsider its
decision. Weintraub was retained by the California Teachers' Association on her behalf.
"People like her should be rewarded and be heroes or heroines in this community," he said.
Paula King covers education in far East County. Reach her at 925-779-7189 or
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• NAME: Tanya Smith
• AGE: 28
• EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, journalism and communications, Brigham Young University
• OCCUPATION: English teacher, Liberty High School
• RESIDENCE: Brentwood
• CLAIM TO FAME: Exposed the presence of mold and asbestos at the aging Brentwood campus, which led to a
$14,690 fine for the Liberty Union High School District from Cal-OSHA
Cal-OSHA cites Liberty Union High School District, Brentwood, CA, for asbestos and mold violations May, 2006
Northern CA, May 2, 2006 5:45 pm US/Pacific
Brentwood Teacher Sparks Campus Mold Investigation
http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_122204724.html
Ann Notarangelo
Reporting
(CBS 5) BRENTWOOD The whistleblowing teacher who sparked an investigation into mold and asbestos at Liberty High School is being involuntarily transferred to another school.
Tanya Smith is an English teacher at Liberty High, but since last November, she's become somewhat of an investigator.
"What I noticed was a terrible smell that happened after the rains in late November," Smith said.
She took pictures of the black mold in her classroom. During her research, she found renovations in the school's book and copy room could expose teachers and students to asbestos. She then paid $80 for mold and asbestos testing. They came back positive. When Smith felt the district didn't respond in a timely manner, she filed a complaint with Cal-OSHA.
Smith is also a graduate of Liberty High School. Her sister attends the school now, which is part of what motivated her to launch the complaint.
Cal-OSHA fined the district nearly $15,000 and issued 13 citations for asbestos and mold exposure. Since the district is a public agency though, it will get the money back once Cal-OSHA signs off on the repairs.
A Cal-OSHA spokesman says the state found the district violated the safety and health code and employees were exposed to asbestos.
"It's cleaned up," said Liberty High School Principal Tim Halloran. "The project is finished and we're just doing the final touches."
Halloran was surprised when investigators showed up because the district, he says, followed proper procedures.
"We still don't have a safety plan in place so it doesn't happen again, and parents weren't notified of the initial exposure," Smith said.
Halloran says he did inform his parents organization.
Perhaps the story would end there, but on Monday, Smith was informed she's being involuntarily transferred to another school.
"You think this is retaliation," Smith said. "I don't know how else to interpret it."
Halloran denies that, "It's not retaliation. It's for health reasons. It's a brand-new campus, and this is an older campus, and she's been shown to have allergies."
Smith is looking for support from faculty and parents and admits this experience has been isolating. She hopes people will attend a May 10 board meeting and ask for answers.
Probe of school results in fines
BRENTWOOD: Cal-OSHA cites Liberty Union High School District for asbestos and mold violations
By Paula King
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Cal-OSHA has fined the Liberty Union High School District $14,690 and issued 13 citations for asbestos and mold exposure at Liberty High School.
4/30/2006
The presence of asbestos and mold was first revealed earlier this year when English teacher Tanya Smith and her students were moved out of the S-wing on the aging Brentwood campus. Smith, who had become sick, had two mold samples tested from the area and the results came back positive for a toxic form of mold.
Air and material testing later issued by the district determined that portions of the campus were safe for students and staff.
Smith also filed the initial complaint with Cal-OSHA in January, prompting an investigation.
"I'm torn because it has been painful to go public with our problems as a school," Smith said. "It has cost me some respect from teachers at our school."
Cal-OSHA safety inspectors visited the campus several times after Smith filed the complaint. Five of the citations are considered serious violations, and the rest are general violations.
"Most of these citations are classified as serious, which indicates that they are a violation that can lead to serious physical harm to an employee, but they are low-level penalties on the serious side," Cal-OSHA spokesman Dean Fryer said.
The serious violations were $2,000 each, and the general violations ranged from $225 to $845. Liberty superintendent Dan Smith said the district has already paid for the citations, but since it is a public agency, the funds will be returned once Cal-OSHA approves the district's fixes.
The district's maintenance and operations staff began abatement and corrections immediately after the investigation, Dan Smith said. He added that a district response was sent to Cal-OSHA explaining how they addressed each citation.
The serious violations ranged from failing to provide competent supervision of asbestos removal to not monitoring airborne asbestos. The district was also cited for not providing adequate respirators to employees who removed asbestos and allowing them to work in an area where asbestos work was not regulated.
"All along the district has been extremely concerned about making sure all of the facilities are safe," Dan Smith said. "I have all the confidence in the world that district staff responds quickly and appropriately and it certainly has taken place this time."
Liberty science teacher Victoria Holmes said, however, that faculty and staff were bothered by how the district handled the situation.
"I think if the district had been more proactive in disseminating information and more proactive all along, people wouldn't have been as upset. That was the biggest problem," she said.
The district hired RGA Environmental to conduct air and material testing in the S-wing, L-building and Nash Hall after Tanya Smith came forward with her concerns. RGA determined that the levels of mold and asbestos posed no danger to students and staff.
Tanya Smith has said that she and other teachers knew the RGA testing results would be normal because the company performed tests in conditions different from those the students and teachers were exposed to, since the maintenance staff had attempted to clean-up the area.
The district has since re-activated its safety committee and administrators have discussed drafting a more specific safety plan.
Tanya Smith would like to see the school community adopt an environmental assessment plan that includes both federal and state health codes like the one used by the Fremont Unified School District.
She said the environmental plan should be based on the Tools for Schools model established by the Environmental Protection Agency and other environmental agencies. She has also been encouraging staff and faculty to utilize the Williams complaint form, an anonymous system of reporting site and facility issues.
"It will all be worth it if these things happen," Tanya Smith said.
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Paula King covers education in far East County. Reach her at 925-779-7189 or
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