School community wants action on air quality

The students want a club for clean air. The parents sent a flurry of e-mails to lawmakers. A Tempe leader flew to the nation's capital to plead for federal help.

The community wants someone to do something - now - about the mold and poor air quality at Tempe's Corona del Sol High School.

Tempe battles schools air quality woes

Corona mold issue must be addressed

"It's reaching crescendo proportions and I think that, by the end of the week, something fairly dramatic may happen," said Tempe Councilwoman Barb Carter, adding that some parents are considering public protests while others are looking for quieter, formal action through government channels.

"I want it to be fixed and I want to do it the right way," Carter said. "We've got everyone going off in many different directions. It needs to be collaborative."

The school's air quality woes have even attracted national attention. At least one consultant, Linda May from Illinois, has been contacting Carter and Corona teachers saying the mold is toxic and that she can help take legal action.

For years, Corona staff have complained about poor air flow and mold at the school. Last year, the Tempe Union High School District presented the state with reports that showed the school was plagued by smelly classrooms, mold, malfunctioning equipment and elevated levels of carbon dioxide.

Officials have tried to obtain some $17 million in emergency state funding to fix the school's aging ventilation system, but the state has rejected the requests.

The district says it does not have enough money to fix the problem on its own.

So Carter decided to take the issue to a higher level, flying to Washington, D.C., late last week to meet with Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., who himself spent 28 years teaching in the Tempe district.

"It's federal money that helped build that school, so if he can put pressure on anybody there at the Capitol to listen to us, I'm asking him to," she said.

Carter taught at the school for more than 20 years, and said she remembers mold problems before she retired in 2005.

"My room never had a wisp of air coming out the vent. I had a corner office that was actually a janitor's closet. ... Every year I'd come back and there would be mold dripping on the pipes and walls," she said.

Carter is one of eight current or former staff members at the school who have been diagnosed with brain tumors in recent years. While her physician can't make a connection between her tumor and mold, she believes there is an unusually high number of teachers at the school with tumors, and worries the mold might have something to do with it.

Meanwhile, Sandy Lowe, president of the Kyrene Parent Network, has sent e-mails to the organization's members begging them to fill the inboxes of community leaders and lawmakers.

In her latest e-mail, she included contact information for various policymakers including Gov. Janet Napolitano and Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne.

"Tell (Horne) how the high carbon dioxide in the air is causing lethargic, sick teachers and kids and ask him how he expects any child to have the ability to learn and operate their fullest potential," she wrote. "At this time, we beg, rather than encourage you, to contact several people to help our community solve this problem. This is going to take a community effort."

Some high school students, too, are working to have their voices heard.

Sophomore Jennifer Walker recently submitted paperwork to get a new student club approved, which would focus on "spreading awareness about the issues at Corona," she said.

The club, which she is temporarily calling "Air for Corona," needed six student signatures to start up, but Walker, 15, said she knows of many more students who are interested.

"We just want to spread awareness, and we also wanted to start fundraisers to get plants in the rooms for more air," she said. "People have been sick, and if this is what causes it, I'm definitely concerned for them. It definitely worries all of us."

Administrators still have to approve the club, and Walker said she's hoping to hear back by the time this week's spring break is over.

For its part, the district has moved to address some of the community's concerns. Teachers at a community forum last month requested that the district create a list of staff and students who have contracted illnesses - including tumors and leukemia - that they believe might be related to the mold.

After classes resume March 17, the Arizona Department of Health Services will conduct a confidential survey of students and current and former staff members who believe their health problems have been affected by the quality of Corona's air.