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Now, alarmingly, the 9th and 10th victims of a sick Houston area school, two teachers, have been hospitalized, the others, all within less than a month. The 7 custodians and one additional teacher were the other victims. How many more before this district admits it has a serious problem, allowing the unions involved to send in a qualified third party to test and inspect ? We call on this school board to strongly consider closing this school until the safety of this school has been established. Sick people do not indicate a healthy school.
SPEAK OUT ON THIS ISSUE, ON THE SMH SITE! Write
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1 SMH visitor comment on this article, see below
Two Key Middle School teachers taken to hospital
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5122454.html
ERICKA MELLON
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Two teachers left Key Middle School in ambulances this morning, reigniting the union's concerns that the northeast Houston campus is unsafe.
The two women were taken to the hospital after vomiting and experiencing watery eyes and difficulty breathing, said Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. Fallon suspects the cause is mold or some other air-quality problem.
Terry Abbott, spokesman for the Houston Independent School District, said the administration has not heard an official medical report about the teachers. He emphasized that a private inspection company found a week ago that Key Middle, located at 4000 Kelley, did not have unusual levels of mold and that city inspectors agreed with that assessment.
"We understand the building was hot this morning. That may have had something to do with those who felt badly today," Abbott said. "We have had nothing at all unusual among the children."
Fallon strongly criticized the district for not taking her concerns seriously.
"What I'm beginning to wonder is, is HISD going to wait until a kid or a teacher keels over and dies." she said. "I'm real sorry they can't find what's wrong with the building. That doesn't mean there's nothing wrong. But you don't expose teachers and staff to what is obviously a dangerous situation."
A male teacher from Key first went to a hospital on Aug. 28 after feeling sick, Fallon said. That weekend, the school district ordered janitors to clean the school, and seven ended up in the hospital.
Doctors, Abbott said, concluded that the janitors were sickened by fumes from bleach that was used in the cleaning.
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SMH Visitor Comment(s):
After a successful teaching career I am now disabled after teaching in a sick school. Our students were sick and their parents did indeed tell the principal and nurse who did nothing whatsoever to address their symptoms while in the building. I'm sure students are ill and relating the health complaints to their parents who probably do not know what to do about it or don't want to make waves with the district. I would encourage any parents who have children complaining to listen and get assistance from their doctors to get them OUT of the building asap. MOLD and chemical exposure is not just an allegy issue. It can lead to chemical intolerance, neurological, autoimmune, endocrine and other chronic health issues which won't always get better! It is something to take seriously. I did not go to college to become permanently disabled! One of our teachers is now dead, another was hospitalized for a long period, and others with health problems have left to teach in another district. America needs to wake up. This is not an isolated school. There are sick aging schools all over this country with students and teachers becoming terribly ill. If I knew what I know now from the court's subpoenaed maintenance documents I would have left years before I did!
Longbeach, CA Teacher
To read the previous story re: 7 Custodians Ill From Mold and our SMH comments about this school, go to
http://new.schoolmoldhelp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=572&Itemid=1
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