SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Officials with the Poway Unified School District knew mold had been discovered in several classrooms at the Black Mountain Middle School but didn’t inform parents until 10 days after students returned to the campus for the start of the new school year.
Team 10 received a tip last Wednesday that teachers were wearing N95 masks after mold was found on carpets, desks and other surfaces in several locations at the school before the start of the school year on Aug. 13.
Team 10 asked the district to tell us what was going on, but no one in the district responded.
On Saturday, Aug. 22 — 10 days after students returned to class — Poway Unified sent a message to parents confirming the principal at Black Mountain had reported mold in classrooms before the start of the school year.
The district told parents in a notice Saturday night that mold was found in 14 rooms. Poway Unified said eight had “low levels of mold spores,” while six had “high levels of mold spores.”
Parents who’ve contacted Team 10 claimed this isn’t the first time mold has been discovered at the school, and they claimed concerns from staff members at the school have fallen on deaf ears. They want to know why they weren’t informed before their children went back to class about the mold problems.
School updates didn't mention mold
The school’s website shows the principal sent weekly updates to parents in a newsletter on Aug. 2, Aug. 9, Aug. 12 and Aug. 16 that made no mention of the mold.
The district has not directly answered several questions from Team 10, but Poway Unified said it is committed to providing timely transparent information to parents. The district sent us a copy of initial testing results from Aug. 15 and Aug. 18 that found low, moderate and high levels of mold in over a dozen classrooms.
District spokesman Josué Reyna said before the school year started, officials relocated a classroom so students wouldn’t be near the mold. A parent told us over the weekend her child was learning in the school’s library.
“Cleaning and remediation were completed over the weekend, including carpet cleaning, antimicrobial wiping of surfaces, cleaning air registers, and replacing HVAC filters,” he said.
According to a letter from to the school district, the most recent testing on Tuesday showed an improvement in air quality, with six classrooms previously showing "moderate" or "high" levels now at "low."
"The Industrial Hygienist has just provided preliminary results indicating all six rooms now show a low probability that mold originated from the building structure," the district said in a note.
The district will continue to monitor conditions "before making decisions about when relocated classes return to their regular rooms."
Team 10 has filed a public records request with the Poway Unified School District asking for documents showing what school officials knew and when about the problem.
