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A letter to the editor describes the truth about an elementary school's mold in the Highline School District, where an article left out many important aspects of the story, according to the writer.
Cedarhurst story faulted
Highline Times - Seattle,WA*
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
http://www.highlinetimes.com/articles/2007/09/04/interact/letters_to_the_editor/letter03.txt
Regarding the recent story about Cedarhurst Elementary School, it is
inaccurate to say health investigators found no mold at Cedarhurst.
Experts testified that the clean up before testing, methods of
testing the district allowed, and the time frame made such a
statement unscientific. An old building with a history of serious
mold problems should never have been allowed to continue leaking.
Also, the article reports the librarian "resigned," which is
technically not true: she became disabled.
The story makes no mention of the other staff members who left
because of illnesses, the children whose parents requested transfers
because of chronic respiratory problems that improved while away
from the building, or the expensive court case the Highline
superintendent pursued against the librarian's L&I award.
Minimizing the details of that story leads the public to believe the
school was proven to be safe, which was not the case.
Despite the efforts of school administrators to downplay the risk,
mold-infected schools such as Cedarhurst pose a grave threat to the
safety and health of students and educators alike. Mold, dust mites,
fiberglass, and pesticide residues can make people very ill if
schools aren't kept clean and dry.
Gary Arthur
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