Indexes
November 2nd, 2009
November 8th, 2009
November 7th, 2009
November 6th, 2009
November 5th, 2009
November 4th, 2009
November 3rd, 2009
November 2nd, 2009
The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.
- Bible is entwined with American civic life (135)
- I predict: A conservative tide will rise in 2010 (73)
- David Diskin is first to give an invocation under new city of Lodi policy (70)
- The Treaty of Tripoli hoax (60)
- Universal health care solves big problems (54)
- Here's what my father knew about the assassination of JFK (35)
- Stuck in neutral? Hardly! (35)
- Words from our forefathers (27)
- City of Lodi staff looking into possibility of limiting number of taco trucks (24)
- Majority cannot deprive the minority (23)
ADVERTISEMENT
Five classrooms and an office were emptied out of the kindergarten and first grade building Monday afternoon at Lawrence Elementary because of renovations due to a mold problem in the school. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)
Mold cleanup at Lawrence school scheduled to start on Wednesday
Mold cleanup at Lawrence Elementary should begin Wednesday, amid concerns by some parents about potential health problems.
"Whenever you have a leaky roof you're going to have stains," said principal Cathy Kurey. "Whenever you have wet conditions you may have mold."
School staff and teachers worked through the weekend to make sure materials were boxed up and moved into portable buildings that arrived on campus Saturday.
Carmen Soto, whose daughter is a first-grade student, said she was surprised that mold was found in classrooms.
"They should have checked before the beginning of the school year, when I assume there were no kids here," Soto said.
Another parent, Yolanda Aguilar, said she has seen recent television reports about mold causing bronchitis and asthma in children.
"They're good people for making sure children are staying away from the mold," she said in Spanish, translated by her fifth-grade daughter Karen. Her son, Hugo, is a first-grade student.
Some teachers said they were concerned about mold but that Kurey instructed them not to speak to the press. Kurey said she would rather all comments come from herself or district staff.
A member of the Measure K school bond oversight committee said he heard from a teacher in March that mold was a problem at the school.
"My concern was they didn't follow up with checking for mold at the school," said Tasso Kandris.
At the committee's March 8 meeting, Kandris asked district staff to look into mold. By the committee's next meeting on June 14, the district reported it had reviewed portable and permanent classrooms and found no mold.
Measure K funds won't pay for the portables, mold removal or reconstruction. Work will likely be billed to the district's general fund, but the amount is not yet known.
The new portable classrooms at Lawrence have been placed in a row at the rear parking lot of the Lodi Grape Festival Grounds. Parents may choose to drop off children there in addition to the regular spots.
"The teachers love their new rooms," Kurey said in her office Monday.
Joined by Lodi Unified's Facilities and Planning assistant superintendent Art Hand, the two thrashed out the mold timeline.
Art Hand said some teachers had complained to their principal of rainwater-stained ceiling tiles. Kurey said she heard the first complaints from teachers several weeks into the current school year.
Staff from the district's maintenance and operations division did a "visual inspection" and verified the tiles were stained. Continued complaints prompted the district to call ADR Environmental Inc. to do an air quality test.
"A very small amount of mold spores were found," Hand said.
During a reroofing project completed in July, roofers saw from above that ceiling tiles were stained but mold was not obvious, Hand said.
ADR tested classrooms again after the reroofing was done, and mold was discovered in classroom 2. However, to pinpoint the source, "mold investigators" will have to look through ceiling tiles and walls.
"The union is very concerned whenever anyone is asked to enter a building that's potentially dangerous," said Sue Kenmotsu, president of the Lodi Education Association. "We're glad teachers are being given information about the situation today; we're concerned that teachers were being asked to go into the classrooms before they knew how serious it was."
According to Hand, the "black mold" at Lawrence is the same variety recently discovered and removed from McNair High School's cafeteria and administration offices.
Contact reporter Kendyce Manguchei at kendycem@lodinews.com.
First published: Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Search for Ads 
Today’s Print Ads 
RSS Feeds
Reader Feedback
Anon wrote on Oct 2, 2006 10:03 AM:
T & C wrote on Sep 26, 2006 4:06 PM:
Comments on this story are now closed.