CVUSD shares more details about mold remediation at elementary school as parents plan protest
Gavin Nguyen
THERMAL, Calif. (KESQ) – It’s been about a month since the Coachella Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) said mold remediation was complete at John Kelley Elementary School in Thermal.
The school district and several third-party companies they contracted to ensure safety after the mold was found said parents and students should no longer have concerns about the mold issue.
Servpro has been handling the remediation after the school was tested. They showed News Channel 3’s Gavin Nguyen around the school on Monday, and highlighted several spots where crews replaced drywall, insulation, flooring, and more – all areas that were marked for replacement after mold was found.
Jose Torres, Servpro’s Regional Manager who has been on-site for weeks, said 30 different spots throughout the school have been worked on.
Dr. Frances Esparza, superintendent of CVUSD, said confidently, “It’s extremely safe to be in those classrooms.”
Both the district and Servpro said proactive work has been taken in addition to the mold work. That included installing better drainage to reduce the chance of moisture collecting and leading to mold growth in the future. They are also in the process of removing paint that contained lead on exterior walls.
Safeguard Envirogroup was the company that has been testing the school throughout various stages of the remediation process. A representative with the company recounted what was originally found: “The very first visit for rooms 52 or 53. The air samples were a little bit elevated for Penicillium Aspergillus.”
Most strains of that kind of mold are not harmful, and Dr. Esparza said it was a relief for district staff to learn that no harmful mold was found.
“There’s different levels of mold. And we were so happy that we found out that it wasn’t anything harmful that they were breathing and that Servpro was able to take care of it immediately,” she recounted.
“I believe everything is past clearance, or on the way to passing clearance,” the representative, Kevin Hawisher, updated.
But concerns remain from parents.
Loretta Perez, who has several children who graduated from or are still enrolled in CVUSD schools, is one of the organizers of CVUSD Autism Parents United. That group advocates for children with special needs because they say they aren’t able to voice their concerns themselves.
“They are unable to tell us how much they’re hurting, how much they’re they’re itching, how much they’re coughing, if it hurts them to breathe,” Perez explained.
Perez argued that the furniture in classrooms were not properly cleaned or remediated after the mold was found.
“We’re talking about the furniture that our children touch every day,” she explained. “We’re talking about the fact that now that they brought mold spores right back in, it just started another round. That’s what we’re concerned about.”
Perez also said she doesn’t trust the results the district and third-party companies found during their inspections.
Torres, the official with Servpro, asked parents to trust both the work they completed and the testing company, who eliminate bias from their test results.
“People should trust that. I mean, that is through a third party company that they take it to the lab, they analyze it, and then they put out the results,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Perez will host a protest at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 13th, about what she called “horrendous conditions” at district schools. She said she is demanding more transparency and action from CVUSD staff.
Also on Tuesday: a press conference will be held in the hour leading up to the protest as a lawyer representing several parents is expected to announce a lawsuit against the district.
According to a press release from the lawyer, Elan Zektser, of Oakwood Legal Group, the press conference will outline:
Evidence of black mold contamination at John Kelly Elementary
Allegations that the District had prior knowledge of the hazardous conditions
The unique and severe risks posed to autistic and special-needs children
The legal actions now being taken to protect affected students and families
Demands for accountability, transparency, and immediate corrective measures
Amid the planned protest, Dr. Esparza invited parents who have concerns to have a discussion with her.
“We welcome them to to talk to us about what some of the needs are, what are some of the things that they see,” she said.
“They’ve taken a a different way of communicating either through social media or like this, like the protest, but actually coming in and talking to us and not starting the conversation with ‘compensation.’ I don’t want to start the conversation with compensation. I want us to talk about the safety for our students and our staff.”
Stay with us for the latest.