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"Key Middle School, in Houston, TX, where up to 20 people have become extremely ill, is set to close this week. Read the article, view the video and pictures ... "
(SMH note: Key Middle School, where up to 20 people have become extremely ill, is set to close this week. Read the article, view the video and pictures explaining what the plan will be, with a recap of the investigations, thus far. The Center for School Mold Help approves of the closing of this school that has sickened so many, sending most by ambulance to the hospital.)
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Stella Reichek, left, school nurse at Key Middle School, and Principal Mable Caleb, take questions from parents Saturday.
ANNE MARIE KILDAY: CHRONICLE
Sept. 23, 2007, 8:07AM
Principal at Key works to alleviate parents' concerns
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5157113.html
Children will be be safe and learn at Fleming, she says
By ANNE MARIE KILDAY
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES
Teachers Fall Ill at Key Middle School (Video Link)
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid823433113/bctid1182960274
Concerns at Key Middle (Photo Gallery)
http://www.chron.com/news/photogallery/Concerns_at_Key_Middle.html
Francis Scott Key occupancy assessment (Document)
http://images.chron.com/content/news/pdfs/07/09/13/0913airquality.pdf
Mable Caleb, the principal at Key Middle School, told parents Saturday that their children will be educated — and safely — when they transfer to Fleming Middle School this week.
"We are not going to let what has happened at Key Middle School in the last few weeks impede the education of our children," Caleb said. "It has been very, very challenging. There have been many sleepless nights."
In two meetings with HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, Caleb said she told him she was "not satisfied" with the district's response to the mysterious illnesses teachers, staff and students have battled since late August.
HISD officials announced Friday that students from Key will be temporarily relocated to Fleming, while more tests for possible airborne contaminants are conducted at the northeast Houston school. Previous tests found no contaminants.
"I commend the Houston Independent School District for looking at the big picture. I do not agree that it should have taken this long, and I will continue to be vocal," Caleb said.
'Not psychological'
Since late in August, 19 of about 60 teachers, staff or counselors at Key have reported shortness of breath, watery eyes, skin rashes, nausea and other problems. More than 260 students have seen the school nurse for the allergylike symptoms.
Caleb said doctors have diagnosed "at least 20 children" with allergies or asthma they had never had before, Caleb said.
Caleb said she told Saavedra, "Children are hurting, employees are hurting. I have been sick. It is not psychological."
Caleb met with parents of students from the school Saturday morning at Kashmere Gardens Missionary Baptist Church. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, NAACP president Carol Galloway, PTA President Sally Rigmaiden and Houston Federation of Teachers representative Cory Ortiz also attended.
District officials are not conceding that the 50-year-old campus in northeast Houston is making people sick.
Caleb reassured parents that HISD "is continuing to work with us."
"Dr. Saavedra gave his word that whatever is in that building he will find it," Caleb said. "We are talking about education, but HISD's first core value is safety. We are talking about a safe environment, not just from violence, but a healthy environment. And we are going to get that, because our children deserve it," Caleb said.
Ample class space
Several parents expressed concerns about the possibility of fights between students when Key students start attending school at Fleming.
Discipline will be strictly enforced, Caleb said. She urged parents to read the school's code of conduct with their children before classes resume Wednesday. An additional eight police officers will be on hand to ensure students' safety, she added.
There are enough empty classrooms at Fleming for the Key Middle School students to attend classes with their own teachers, in a separate part of the building, Caleb said.
Ortiz said that initial tests of some materials taken from the school by teachers, and tested by the teachers' union, indicated that a type of mold known as aspergillus had been detected.
"I am not saying it is, but I am not saying it's not," Ortiz said.
Jackson Lee, who brought officials from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Key campus on Monday, said she will continue to work on behalf of the schoolchildren and their parents. A director with EPA said he saw "potentially problematic" moldy areas that deserved further inspection.
"I am not in a war with the leadership of any school district, but I am in a war for our children," Jackson Lee said.
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Comments on this article from www.chron.com:
dcsports wrote:
Jackson Lee needs to stay out of it. It's not even her district!!! This has nothing to do with the US congress -- she's only there for headlines. If a member of the state legislature, wants to get in the middle of this, it would make more sense. But, the voters in the school district elected their school board for a reason -- they are the elected representatives that parents should turn to.
This principal should have been supportive and reassuring all along. She's a administrator for the school district!!! She's there to represent the children to the district, and the district to the public. With all of the stunts she has pulled, she should be fired. There's no place for a school district employee -- an administrator -- to act like she has.
9/23/2007 7:45:40 AM
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BearDog wrote:
Where there is an open mike, there will be Jackson Lee.
9/23/2007 8:11:35 AM
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alastrina wrote:
HISD hired a company to look at the building. The results found nothing. Sickness continued. HISD spent some time and came up with a plan to move the students. They closed the school. Everything is following as it should. Were some people sick? Indeed. Can there be some with a psychological reaction? Indeed.
I do not know if the principal, the union, Shelia Jackson-Lee, or even the bigwigs at HISD started the blame game, but it does nothing to help the situation. I do understand the parents', students' union's and to some extent Ms. Jackson-Lee's point. However, the principal of the school should not come out and incite feelings of ill will about the top administration in front of the media, parents, and students.
I bet that same principal is furious when a teacher questions her judgment in front of others. I bet that same teacher feels she/he was right in asking.
9/23/2007 8:31:30 AM
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Hadenough wrote:
Walk a mile in a teacher/administrator's shoes at Key MS.
9/23/2007 8:43:14 AM
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TradeLidgeAlready wrote:
"I am not in a war with the leadership of any school district, but I am in a war for our children," Jackson Lee (D-MTV) said.
While wearing a surgeon's mask and a space suit from the mission to Mars.
9/23/2007 8:48:25 AM
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Hadenough wrote:
What has the Principal done except to express concerns about the students and staff at her school? Yes, she should be fired if she DID NOT do what she has done and that is to look out for the safety and security of all involved.
All principals have a tremendous job to do. Yes, they do work for the district, however they work for the children/parents and community first. Their priority should be there.
It is this type of thinking that would allow a superintendent to keep teachers and students that are obviously ill in a building for four weeks and still refuse to admit that there is a problem. Oh, but you have to be there to see it.
By the way, Shelia Jackson Lee and go anywhere she chooses. As Chair of the Congressional Children's Caucus, her job to to advocate for children all over the United States. The board member that represents the district seems by all actions disinterested. Oh, he is not seeking reelection to the board.
When get a deaf ear, as Principal when you realize that their is a problem, you have to get help where ever and from whomever you can.
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