Pima Kindergarten Reopened

by Tim Dana – Staff Writer, Eastern Arizona Courier

Pima Kindergarten reopened after broken water lines caused mold in the school. This flooding closed the building and forced the two kindergarten classes to move classes. They moved to the Responsibility Center located in the elementary school double-wide trailer. Elementary Principal Lynne Jones said Pima Kindergarten reopened for the first day of school.

The school had to have some walls, floors and carpet replaced as well as mold reduced. The repair cost was $26,000. The school only had to pay a $1,000 insurance deductible.

“The mold tested out at an acceptable level,” Superintendent Stan Smith said. He said the insurance replaced books and other supplies, too.

Jones said she expected around 50 students this year. She said this year’s students handled the building change well, but it is important that they are back in the kindergarten building. “They just do better when they have their own playground now that Pima Kindergarten reopened” Jones said.

Update for Pima’s Kindergarten 2019

Mold-Help did not find any additional information about mold problems in Pima Kindergarten. In fact, the school systems seems to be thriving. Mold remediation efforts have been successful.

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2019 State of Affair for Schools with Mold

Mold issues in schools and day care centers are frequently in the news. To recap a few of the most vocal ones, read the synopsis below.

1. Principal Takes Action

It’s rare that a school superintendent asks a reporter to investigate his district. But Jamie Green was so desperate to protect California students that he came to CBS13 for help. It was only after hidden toxic mold devastated the Trinity Alps School District, that Green realized just how dangerous invisible mold spores could be. Turns out there is no required mold testing in schools – or any indoor air quality regulations, protecting kids in classrooms. https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2019/11/15/hidden-toxic-mold-lurking-schools-no-one-testing/

2. 13-Year Olds Take Action

‘We can change something’: These 13-year-olds found mold in their schools and did something about it. The runny noses, coughing and headaches flared inside the students’ biology classroom at George Washington Middle School in Northern Virginia. Symptoms subsided once the children left.

Bridget Baron said she watched splotches of mold colonize a wall to the right of her desk. Then until one day, “they all shriveled up and died.” It was a clear sign for the 13-year-old and her classmates that something was amiss.

They decided to take action, visiting classrooms to collect samples for a do-it-yourself mold-testing kit they ordered from a laboratory in South Carolina. Then, they shipped the samples off to be analyzed. The results: 15 classrooms tested positive for mold. Spores were found on classroom ceiling tiles, in a main hallway and the weight room, according to lab results. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/we-can-change-something-these-13-year-olds-found-mold-in-their-schools-and-did-something-about-it/2019/06/30/5257de34-96a3-11e9-8d0a-5edd7e2025b1_story.html

3. Mother Takes Action

The first thing Sara Ward noticed was the smell not long after her son entered sixth grade at Midlothian Middle School. Ward began to observe a strong, pungent odor in his clothes when she washed her family’s laundry. She sought answers to her air quality concerns. She spoke to parents of other Midlothian Middle students, who had recognized a similar aroma in their children’s clothing, backpacks and hair. https://www.mold-help.org/parents_concerned_over-mold-and-air-quality/

4. Teacher Takes Action

Former Atlanta Public School teacher Jeremy Johnson taught in dozens of classrooms throughout his decade-long career. He spent four years at Young Middle School, where he said he switched classrooms several times — all because of mold. “There was just mold (on the) ceilings, chairs, desks and it was horrible,” Johnson said. “It was to the point where I couldn’t teach, and kids certainly couldn’t come in that classroom until something was done about it.”

Channel 2 Action News filed an Open Records Request with Atlanta Public Schools asking for emails mentioning mold for the last five years. They also requested documentation of cleanup efforts at Young MS. From that request, they got back hundreds of pages of documents, including air quality complaints from more than 30 other Atlanta public schools. Reported by wsbtv.com.