Right: Workers place black plastic on the administration building on Friday morning. Tokay High School has been diagnosed with mold throughout the campus. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Severe mold problem found at Tokay High School

Every classroom building at Tokay High School is tainted by a significant mold problem that could cost the Lodi Unified School District millions of dollars to clean up.

District superintendent Bill Huyett confirmed Friday that large amounts of various molds have been found at the school.

The problem is so bad the district will ask the Lodi Unified School board to delay Tokay High's fall start date by a month to Sept. 4.

"We do believe that we will not finish before school starts," Huyett said.

Construction workers found the mold inside the walls of the school's science building on Thursday during a scheduled modernization project. Since then, district staff members have been investigating the problem.

"Every classroom building has it in one shape or form," Huyett said.

Staff believes that over time moisture leaked into the walls, leading to mold growth. District believes the leaks are due to a flaw in the buildings' design.

The district built Tokay High more than 30 years ago, between 1974 and 1977.

Huyett said that although preliminary reports showed that the mold is airborne in some classrooms, it was not airborne in classrooms where students attended summer school this week. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, airborne mold spores can increase the risk of respiratory problems.

Inhaling mold spores can cause allergic reactions, asthma and other breathing problems.

Removing the mold will require construction workers to put a tent over the building to prevent the mold from spreading. Workers will then create negative air pressure inside the building so no mold blows out and use a special disinfectant to wipe exposed surfaces.

The district plans to test the air in the classrooms to make sure mold spores are not present before allowing students and staff into the buildings.

Although he doesn't believe there is a major health risk, Huyett said that he encouraged anyone who believes that they have mold-related symptoms to consult their doctor.

Gary Haas, a teacher at Tokay for 28 years, said he has had asthma and allergies all his life. He said he didn't know whether or not the mold was exacerbated his problem.

"I'm sure it's affecting some people," Haas said.

Sandstrom said he did not know of any students who had suffered from mold-related illnesses.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, mold-related symptoms include sneezing, runny noses, red eyes and skin rashes. Mold can also cause asthma attacks.

"We'll share any information about it with (the person) or their doctor," Huyett said.

"We're not hiding anything," Tokay High principal Erik Sandstrom said.

Sandstrom said that he has no way of knowing how long the mold had been growing in the walls of his school, but said that district administrators acted on the problem as soon as they found out about it.

The district currently has $13.8 million in Measure K bonds, state grants and deferred maintenance funds to be used for school modernization projects. Of the $13.8 million, $8 million were earmarked for special projects before the mold discovery, so the district will have nearly $5 million to spend on the mold problem.

District officials don't know yet whether or not that will cover the costs.

"Whenever we find mold we attack it very aggressively," Huyett said.

Administrators informed summer school students Friday afternoon that they should report for class on Monday at Lodi Middle school.

Friday afternoon, summer school teachers scrambled to pack up their classrooms and grab their room assignments at Lodi Middle.

"It's a little inconvenient," said teacher Steve Dayton.

Since the parking lot at Lodi Middle is under construction, Huyett said that students and teachers will most likely still use the Tokay parking lot and be bussed to Lodi Middle.

Tokay High math teacher Shannon Hieb said she is concerned about the effects of the school's recent discovery.

Hieb said she used to teach in the school's classroom buildings. Two years ago, though, she moved into one of the school's portables.

"I guess I'm glad I was in those portables," Hieb said.

Students weren't quite as concerned.

"It's gross," said Sonia Shergill, 15, a Tokay junior.

Shergill said she was looking forward to the longer summer break.

Although Tokay High's break might be extended, it will probably come at the cost of the school's two week breaks in fall and spring.

That's a fact Tokay sophomore Ashley Ohls, 15, is not too pleased about. She said she needs those two breaks to get through the school year.

The district will post a new school calendar after it has negotiated the breaks with its various employee groups, who according to Huyett have been cooperative so far.

Art Hand, assistant superintendent of facilities and planning, said he anticipates construction workers will be able to repair Tokay's English and math buildings â€" those with the least amount of mold â€" before Sept. 4. The business, science and industrial arts buildings â€" those most affected â€" will have to wait until after school starts.

According to Hand, the remaining classrooms will be replaced by an undetermined number portables that will be put of the school's basketball court and possibly the surrounding areas.

Hand hopes to start construction on the mold-affected areas by the end of next week, pending the school board's approval. The district will use the same construction company that removed moldy building materials from Lawrence Elementary School last September.

Mold removal took three weeks. Construction started in March and is scheduled to wrap up soon.

Demolition and construction costs totaled $2.9 million, but Hand is reluctant to use those numbers to estimate repair costs at Tokay High.

Mold at Lawrence Elementary affected one building with eight classrooms, administration offices, bathrooms and hallways. While the district won't have to deal with some of those problems at Tokay High, Hand said some of the affected areas house specialized classrooms, that could cost more money to repair.

Hand was reluctant to pin even a rough dollar amount on the project, but said that one thing is for sure.

"It will be an expensive proposition. There's no doubt about that."

Contact reporter Amanda Dyer at amandad@lodinews.com.