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Congresswoman Wants Key Middle School Closed Permanently
http://www.click2houston.com/news/14513816/detail.html
POSTED: 11:40 am CST November 5, 2007
UPDATED: 5:46 pm CST November 5, 2007
HOUSTON -- A congresswoman has demanded that a school that has been closed for several months because of health issues be closed forever, KPRC Local 2 reported Monday.
Teachers and staff at Key Middle School complained of a variety of symptoms including nausea and headaches while inside the building at the beginning of the school year.
The school was closed in September while the Houston Independent School District and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted invasive testing. Tests showed there was mold in the school.
The students and teachers were moved to Fleming Middle School, but parents and teachers have said the campus is overcrowded.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said the school district at least needs to a brick-by-brick cleaning of the school, but she said she really wants to see the teachers, staff and students get a new school.
"I will be asking the school district for an inventory of mold throughout the district, but I'm asking for this contaminated school to be closed," she said. "I think this is a singular example of other school situations that maybe we the voting public are not even aware of."
Some parents said they would never allow their children to go back into Key.
"I want a new school for my children because I'm not going to be bringing them back here," mother Marla Martinez said.
The school district declined to respond to the demand for the school's closure.
"Our first priority will always be sure our students and employees are safe," Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said. "We are continuing to work diligently to make sure that Key Middle School and all HISD schools are safe."
Voters will decide Tuesday on a $805 million school bond that would, in part, benefit Key Middle School, but it would not be rebuilt. Jackson Lee and many parents have expressed their opposition to the bond.
Previous Stories:
October 31, 2007: Most Key MS Staff Members File Compensation Claims
October 19, 2007: CDC Finds Mold At Key Middle School
October 12, 2007: Protest Dwindles Outside Key Middle School
October 10, 2007: Walkout Canceled At Middle School
October 10, 2007: Community Leaders Plan Protest At Key Middle School
September 28, 2007: CDC Finds Issues At Key Middle School
September 26, 2007: Middle Schools Merge While Campus Tested
September 21, 2007: Key Students, Staff Relocated To Fleming
September 21, 2007: Key MS Has History Of Humidity Problems
September 20, 2007: Key Middle School To Temporarily Close
September 19, 2007: Congresswoman Wants Everyone Out Of Key MS
September 15, 2007: Students: Mold At School Made Us Sick
September 12, 2007: More Teachers Sickened At Key Middle School
September 10, 2007: 2 Teachers Sickened At Key Middle School
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Congresswoman wants Key Middle School closed for good
http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou071105_jj_keymiddleschool.1df96ca30.html
03:15 PM CST on Monday, November 5, 2007
KHOU.com staff report
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee wants Key Middle School shut down for good.
That’s the school the CDC found mold in and the school where dozens of teachers and students got sick.
“As a member of the homeland security committee, I am quite concerned. This may not be anthrax but it has a level of contamination that can cause respiratory illnesses,” said Congresswoman Jackson Lee.
She says she’ll vote against the HISD bond issue Tuesday because it does not call for rebuilding key middle school. |
