MARTIN - Westview High School students want to see more action from the Weakley County School Board to address a mold problem they believe has persisted in their school for several years.
This is an air vent in Westview's cafeteria, where students said they don't feel comfortable eating because they believe mold is present.
We want a professional to come in and clean it up," said 17-year-old senior Griffin Pochop. "They need to speed up the process." Along with Pochop, more than 80 students protested outside the school Monday morning. They later met with Weakley County Schools Superintendent Richard Barber. "We had a cleaning crew contracted," and areas of the school have been cleaned, Barber said Monday. Barber would not comment on the specifics of what was done in the building. He declined to say anything further because a lawsuit is pending. One student and his parents, Richard and Julie Joost, filed the lawsuit against Barber, the Board of Education, Weakley County, H&M Construction Inc. and air quality professionals. The names of the air quality professionals aren't listed in the suit. H&M is listed in the suit as a contractor for the 10-year-old school building.
According to the lawsuit, the Joosts believe their son's poor medical condition can be connected to mold he was exposed to while attending school from November 2004 until May 2007. Their son no longer attends Westview. The Joosts said their son began experiencing 26 symptoms he never had before he attended Westview. The symptoms included respiratory infections, sinus infections, ear infections, skin infections and vomiting. In the suit, the Joosts are asking that a permanent injunction be ordered against the school to discontinue classes at that location until proof is provided that the building is free of toxic mold. The suit also asks for unspecified punitive damages and legal fees. One of the school system's attorneys, Jason Pannu from the Nashville law firm Lewis King, was on Westview's campus Monday. He said a study of certain areas in the school had been completed.
"Tests have been done in selective areas," Pannu said. "And there was evidence of a small amount of mold that can easily be remedied, but it was not excessive amounts." Pannu declined to comment further on the allegations in the lawsuit. Last month, the school system hired Elliott Horner, of Air Quality Sciences, to test the school for mold. Meanwhile, the Joosts hired Richard Lipsey, of Lipsey & Associates, to conduct independent tests of the school. Lipsey and Horner both specialize in testing for mold and went to the school on Aug. 9 to conduct their separate tests. In the lawsuit, Lipsey said Horner's toxicology results are different from what he discovered at Westview. Lipsey said in his affidavit that Horner's method of sampling does not give a picture of what's really in the school. Lipsey said his tests found toxic forms of mold in the school. He said the tests came back positive for mold forms including aspergillus, fusarium, penicillium and stachybotrys.
According to the lawsuit, Westview High School experienced a malfunction with its heating ventilation and air-conditioning system during the summer of 1998 that caused water to infiltrate the building. Following the malfunction, school officials discovered vent covers, walls, floors and other fixtures covered with a slime substance, the lawsuit states. The "slime substance" was the presence of mold, plaintiffs said. According to the school's Web site, about 650 students attend Westview High School. School officials praised students for conducting a peaceful protest Monday morning. After it was over, they asked the students to return to their classrooms. "I'm not going back to class," said Tamika Sanchez, 16, a sophomore at Westview.
"Every class has mold in it. I come home every day feeling nauseous or with a sore throat and headache. My mother supports me in this, and I'd rather be suspended than be here." Senior Chad White, 17, said students protested because "this issue is too important; we have to say something." Another senior, Lerosha McDonald, said, "a lot of us can't breathe." No students were punished for participating in the protest, said Carol Hinman, Griffin Pochop's mother. Hinman came to the protest in support of students, and she plans to take additional actions to protect her son, Griffin, who she said is allergic to mold. "I've done some research, and Tennessee does not have indoor air-quality control," Hinman said. "We don't have air standards, so we need to create some legislation."
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