A parent of a Claudine Brown Elementary student says her child’s health was adversely affected by environmental conditions at the school.
After Cassandra Townes, the parent of a 6-year-old boy with severe respiratory problems, complained of the indoor air quality, the Leflore County School District contacted a consultant to examine the site.
“I’m not taking this student’s health lightly,” Superintendent Jean Hall said. “We’ve corrected what (the consultant) told us to correct. We’ve done everything we were told to do.”
However, Townes said she suspects her son, Ryan Edmond, is still having reactions to something in the school. His pattern of illness is known as “sick building syndrome,” in which an illness is caused by or intensified in a particular location.
“Mold can be dangerous to any child, but I know it hurts my baby,” Townes said. “He’s allergic to it.”
She said her son was on numerous medications, including a nebulizer to assist with his breathing. She said the school was well aware of this but did not notify her of the results of the mold inspection.
“I think every parent should be informed about what is going on,” Townes said. “We should know what our children are exposed to.”
Townes said she was concerned most that the consultant’s report revealed that they had found traces of Stachybotrys, also known as “black” or “toxic” mold, in some drywall.
“These kids are in kindergarten. You know their immune systems are still developing,” she said.
She obtained the inspection report after sending a Freedom of Information Act request to Hall.
“I was the one who complained about the mold,” she said. “Why wouldn’t they inform me of the results?’”
The black mold found in the drywall was removed, and the area was fogged as recommended by the consultant, Hall said. The report confirms this action was taken.
Additionally, the discovered samples of black mold found were non-viable at the time of the report. However, non-viable strains of black mold are still toxic if ingested.
The report stated that the greatest concern was the indoor air quality. It also stated that the air problems inside were likely the result of poor air quality outside.
According to a letter from Dr. Anne B. Yates, director of pediatric allergy/immunology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Ryan has chronic asthma, allergic rhinitis with allergy to molds, recurrent sinusitis and recurrent upper respiratory infections.
“Ryan needs to avoid his known asthma triggers which include strong odors, smoke, upper respiratory infections and exposure to mold,” reads the letter provided to the school by Townes.
Hall said the corrections recommended by the contractor were completed over the holiday break. The recommendations from the consultant included:
- Regularly changing filters
- Cleaning “A coils” in the HVAC system
- Installation of air purification units
She said Mark Hobson from the Mississippi Department of Education’s Division of School Buildings had visited the school, approved the work done and even commended some of the school’s cleaning practices.
However, Townes said her child is still getting sick when he goes to school. She said it may be hard to tell how much time and money other parents may have spent on hospital visits and medications without having any clue that it may be caused by mold in schools.
Mary Saaka, whose grandchildren attend Claudine Brown, said they had complained of headaches, watery eyes and other allergy-like symptoms.
She said that after numerous visits to the hospital and having to dispense allergy medication and aspirin on a daily basis, she will be taking the children back to the hospital.
“The doctors thought it was just allergies, but they had no way of knowing if they were being exposed to black mold at school,” Saaka said.
She said the children’s health problems often disappeared on spring break or during the weekends, only to return when they went back to school.
Saaka and Townes said they were never notified that anything was found, let alone that it had been cleaned.
Hall said although the actions recommended by Bullard Environmental Services were taken, no tests had been run recently to reassess the presence of mold.
In the report, only the black mold was found to be a major concern, and tape lifts of sample sites indicated that there have been problems in the past, but swab samples indicated there was no longer a problem.
The inspector said he suspects the areas in question were wiped down at some time. He also found yeast growth in the kitchen that he said needed to be addressed.
