Teacher Says School Mold Made Her Sick

Mold is a HUGE problem here in Broken Arrow, and not just in the schools. I have had to move three times now due to large amounts of "toxic" molds. My daughter and I have been sick so many times due to the mold that I can no longer count the doctor and hospital visits. I tried VERY hard to find someone, anyone, willing to listen, to look over the mountain of evidence I have gathered over the last four years, and in the end, I always come to another dead end. There are no laws protecting people from mold issues, and due to that one simple fact, no lawyer I could find would even hear my case. I contacted the health department(s), the CDC, the EPA, HUD, and wrote to several of the local news stations, as well as to one in New York City. I contacted countless others as well. The only reply I got was from New York, where they DO have laws in place to protect people from living in such horrible conditions. Of course, there was nothing he could do, because of the lack of any sort of government regulations in our state. Even with a professional report which states clearly that my home was "uninhabitable" due to high levels of mold, (Stachybotrys being just one of them,) I have found no legal recourse that I can take to either get some sort of compensation for the things which have been lost as a direct result of this, nor any way to make sure no one else moves into that home to suffer the same fate. The ramifications of living in such conditions, (or working in them,) are mind blowing, and it is about time someone took this seriously. Thank you to FOX news for breaking this story. And to the teacher in Broken Arrow, I commend you for your efforts. Perhaps if enough people follow your lead, eventually, this problem will get the attention that it so desperately needs, and the citizens of Oklahoma will be protected from the sheer negligence of those who do everything in their power to cover the issue up, just to save a few bucks, rather than fixing it to save live

OK, So sue the school district, where does the money come from? Tax payers. Since the school operates on taxes and is allocated so much money, when you win a lawsuit, where does the money come from? The School Budget! Now subtract the rent a cops, up keep on metal detectors, school monitors, all the computers, etc. How much money does the school have to keep it in tip top shape? What kind of mold is it? Has it been tested? Don't we have a health board down here? Has the illnesses been directly linked to the mold?

I too am a teacher, but I am in Vinita. We have the same problems. We don't see the mold we just smell it. Our foam ceiling tiles get so full of water that they fall to the floor and break before the mold shows. Yes, they have almost hit students before. So we cant see the mold on the tiles because they don't stay up long enough to become discolored. Our custodians and principals have tried to get it fixed, but financially the school can't afford to try and fix it again. They have hired and paid many times to have it repaired, but the leak gets larger every time they come. I think they have given up which to me is sad. I worry about my students breathing it for an hour a day, but then I think about the teachers who are in the same area up to 8 hours a day. The smell can get bad at times, but seriously don't know what else can be done. I was really upset and worried for a year, but found that nothing seemed to help. I will not say anything else about it because they know there is a problem and I am afraid they will fire me if I say anything else. I love my job and plan on being there a long time. My hopes are that someday I will win the lottery and I can pay to fix it myself. With the bad weather this weekend, Monday will be horrible. I can smell it now and see the water pouring from the ceiling into about 20 trashcans and pails to catch it. With tiles falling from the ceiling as they get to heavy with water. Makes you really look forward to going to school, doesn't it?

After my first comment about the hole in the ceiling, it is being fixed right now as I speak. Multiple people were coming in and out of the building inspecting it and figuring how to fix it. Thank you Fox 23 for letting me comment on this problem because I am finally seeing some results.

Broken Arrow school officials and employees may want to check out the remarkable research on toxic mold removal done by environmental expert Dr Ed Close. Simply diffusing a therapeutic-grade oil regularly in these school buildings would likely result in an environment very hostile to mold. Moreover, numerous studies have shown breathing natural oils improves classroom performance. http://www.secretofthieves.com/mold.cfm/79544 It seems like this would make traditional remediation projects easier and more effective, as well as creating a healthier environment for the teachers to teach and the students to learn. In one instance, 10,667 stachybotrys mold spores were identified in a per cubic meter area. After diffusing Thieves essential oil for forty-eight hours, Dr Close retested. Only thirteen stachybotrys remained. Similarly, 75,000 stachybotrys mold spores were identified in a sample of sheetrock. After seventy-two hours of diffusing, no stachybotrys mold spores remained. (Stachybotrys has a reputation for being the most toxic mold.)

This is not the only maintenance problem the school district has. In the hallway of building J, there is a hole where a rotting ceiling tile was because of a leak. For a few weeks, there were electrical wires hanging from it and insulation hanging out. Now, the wires are gone, but the insulation is still visible, no ceiling tile, and every time it rains, there is a leak every time it rains. There is a massive spot where the water has stained the carpet. A trashcan has to be placed there now to contain the water dripping while it rains. It has been like this for several months. Also, multiple broken desks are in the hallways of other buildings. It sometimes takes several months for them to be removed from the hallway. I am getting tired of all the legal issues going on with the school board and I think the attention, and budget, should be focused more on the safety of the students.