Bardmoor Elementary School in Seminole has a mold problem that has prompted the relocation of at least four classes.
Teachers who have lived with it have not been able to get workers’ compensation to cover what they say are related medical expenses. Some have complained of breathing problems, which they said they’ve also seen in some students.
The Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association is trying to get that changed.
“Teachers can see they have plastic doors with zippers to block the mold while cleaning the classrooms,” said Tracey McConnell, the union’s president. “These teachers have gone to the doctor. The district knows about the mold. Yet they are denying their workers’ comp claims.”
Angela Heet, a senior risk management technician for the district, told McConnell in an email on Oct. 26 that such claims require “clear and convincing evidence that the exposure alone came from the school.” She cited state laws supporting that position.
District spokesperson Isabel Mascareñas said via email that any evidence verifying their illness was caused solely by the school must come from independent medical sources.
Teachers said they would have to spend thousands of dollars to test their homes, cars and other areas they regularly frequent, making it cost-prohibitive to prove they qualify.
“What are we doing to teachers?” McConnell said.
School board members said they first learned about the workers’ comp issues at their Oct. 27 meeting, and were looking into those. They acknowledged having heard about the mold concerns earlier, including receiving emails about it from people at Bardmoor, and stressed that health and safety remains a top priority.
A professional environmental cleaning company began work on the affected classrooms Monday, disinfecting all surfaces and removing airborne particles, Mascareñas said. They’re also using portable air filtration systems, she said.
Concerns about mold at Bardmoor first came to light in mid-August.
The art teacher sent a note to the school’s plant manager noting that her classroom had water leaks for a few years, and with all the heat and humidity mold had appeared on her desk and other furniture. Clorox wipes did not do the trick.
She asked for an air quality test.
Before long, art had relocated to the school’s science lab. Problems later began cropping up in a set of classrooms that house prekindergarten and an autism unit.
By Oct. 22, principal Quinn Williams had moved some of those classes, too, though parents weren’t told why until they received a letter days later. Some teachers said they were told not to explain when parents asked about the changes.
The principal also asked the district administration for additional environmental testing.
“Staff are increasingly concerned about their health and I am worried about the potential impact on both employees and students if the source of these concerns is not identified and addressed quickly,” Williams wrote in an Oct. 22 email labeled urgent to her area superintendent and the district’s senior operations manager.
She wanted to be able to tell parents that every reasonable step had been taken to deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, teachers began filing workers’ compensation claims for their illnesses they said were related to the mold. McConnell had encouraged them to submit the forms.
She also went to the school to see firsthand the mold growing on air vents, equipment and sinks, in addition to the sealed-off areas where workers took steps to kill it.
“You can see where the wood was wet, and where there is mold,” McConnell said. “Thank God they had empty classrooms.”
Mascareñas said the district had an independent contractor test 10 classrooms. In two, it found elevated levels of organic material associated with an apparent leak from a cabinet with a sink.
Students in those two classrooms were moved, she said, along with those in two others at the request of their teachers.
“The impacted classrooms, along with those that initially tested negative, will be retested on Monday, Nov. 2,” she said. “Students will return to their classrooms once the rooms are cleared.”
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