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High school to open 5 weeks late due to mold
Recordnet.com
By Keith Reid
Record Staff Writer
September 01, 2007 6:00 AM
LODI - Tokay High School math teacher Anne King sat in her newly rebuilt classroom Friday morning sifting through stacks of old assignments and learning materials.
King, like most of Tokay High's staff, is hard at work tidying up her classroom in preparation for the school's first day, on Tuesday. Tokay's opening was delayed five weeks when district maintenance officials found toxic mold in the walls of the school's classroom buildings. Some of the infested classroom wings are ready to house students; the remainder of the work will take until April 30, district officials have said.
"I'm really looking for a personal file that I kept in my desk," King said, noting that her files were all placed in large plastic bags as contractors re-built her classroom. "It was a file that had nice letters in it from past students. I'm hoping it didn't get lost. You can't replace those."
Scheduled for an $8 million upgrade over the summer, the toxic mold was found in the walls of the 32-year-old buildings that were built improperly and allowed water to drip into them over the years, said Art Hand, a facilities and maintenance administrator.
In July, the Board of Trustees approved a plan that allowed officials to borrow a separate $8 million from other district funds to pay for the mold eradication so to the upgrades could continue. At times, more than 200 workers were on campus tearing out walls and cleaning the mold over the past five weeks, Hand said.
The district is applying for emergency money from the state to help pay back the $8 million, Superintendent Bill Huyett said.
On Friday, Hand toured the campus, proud of the work he saw being completed.
Of the seven classroom wings infested with mold, the English and math sections have been completely cleaned up and painted with a new purple and gray color scheme - the Tokay High colors. The administration building, which suffered from dry rot and termites, received a face-lift that makes it more inviting to visitors than it was before, Principal Erik Sandstrom said.
And while contractors continue to rebuild the walls and roofs of the remaining five classroom wings and the performing arts center, students will take classes in 30 portable buildings that were placed on campus.
"The biggest challenge is going to be with science lab classes and making sure teachers can teach what they need to teach," Hand said.
Some students say they're itching for the first day of school, now bored with their extra five weeks of vacation.
"I'm tired of sitting at home," said senior Curtis Garrison, 17. "I'm excited to come back and see my friends."
Hand said his crews will be working extra hard over the Labor Day weekend to ensure Garrison and his 2,000 schoolmates will return to an inviting campus.
"We're going to have 25 extra custodial employees here this weekend, and that's on top of the 11 who already work here at Tokay," Hand said. "This is our version of (television's) 'Extreme Makeover.' "
Contact reporter Keith Reid at (209) 367-7428 or
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