Employees say school's mold problem worse than acknowledged Sep 15, 2006 10:50 AM EDT
Erica Heatquist Reports

Three employees of the Catalina Foothills School District are speaking out about a mold problem in some of its schools.District officials say it's a new problem but some employees tell News 4 that the mold was around long before this year's rainy season.

The employees asked us to hide their identities for fear of retribution.

"The children should be entitled to know the whole truth of the mold situation at Ventana Vista," says one woman has worked at Ventana Vista Elementary School for more than 8 years.

She says that she's coming forward because the Catalina Foothills School District has not been completely honest about the mold problem at the school.

"These children are still being exposed on a daily basis," she says.

She and three other employees say that, while the district claims the mold problem began with the heavy rains at the end of July, the problem has been there for much longer.

"The problem has been there for many years."

This woman says that there are at least 19 affected areas in the school.
What's the real story?

All of our calls were directed to the Associate Superintendent's office for the Catalina Foothills School District.
When we showed up, her secretary told us that she was too busy for comment.

In fact, the only person who would talk to us was the Director of Facilities for the district.

Basil Callimanis, the District Facilities Director for the Catalina Foothills School District told News 4, "There's no conspiracy. Honest. I work real hard for the district and I want to do the right thing and I tell these teachers there that I understand the problem and I will address the problem."

The women who works for the school says custodians were asked just to spray the walls with Clorox.

"I recall giving direction to the head custodian at Ventana Vista in an area where I removed some base and saw some what I thought was potential mold to spray it with Clorox on a base and then put the plastic coating back on until the health group came in," said Callimanis.

As of right now, there have been no reports of people getting sick.

News 4 checked with the Pima County Health Department.

It turns out that there are no statutory regulations in the books regarding mold, meaning that the county can't fine the school for its mold problem.

It's up to the school to remove it.
 
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