By rssfeeds-admin “There are so many known health impacts of mold toxicity. And it can affect every organ of the body,” said Judy Conti.
Conti’s daughter is a senior at Hayfield Secondary School.
She said that over the summer, she first became aware of issues with mold.
“I’ve got a very good friend, several good friends, whose kids are in the marching band and they were there two weeks before school started for band camp,” she said. “When they walked in, they couldn’t even stay in the facility. The band room was ground zero. The rugs were saturated and growing all sorts of mold spores. The furniture that was in there was fuzzy and covered.”
The school district brought in cleaners prior to the first day of school.
But Conti said problems persist.
“We knew the situation wasn’t fixed even though we were told there was testing of the air quality and it was safe for kids to go in,” she said.
Photos taken inside the school and shared with DC News Now show what appear to be mold on ceiling tiles, HVAC systems, furniture, cinder block walls and more.
She believes the mold is now making her daughter—who deals with mild asthma—sick.
“She came home every day for the first couple of weeks, each day with a worse headache, unnaturally exhausted, waking up with really bad sore throats in the morning,” she said. “She has every symptom of mold toxicity.”
According to Fairfax County Public Schools, the district is addressing the problem.
In an email sent home to parents last week, FCPS Chief of Facilities Services and Capital Programs Erik Gordon outlined several steps they’ve taken — including working with an independent mold remediation team to deep clean, positioning air scrubbers in targeted areas and cleaning HVAC units in individual classrooms.
“I want to assure you that we are committed to providing all students, staff, and members of the community with a safe and healthy school where they can gather and learn,” he wrote to families.
“I don’t doubt they are taking this seriously. We want to make sure they’re taking it as seriously as we think they should be,” said Conti.
She and other parents are calling for more transparency from the school district.
“We want to see the full remediation plan and know how long it is going to take,” she said.
They also want Gordon and other school leaders to have a meeting with parents.
“What are they doing to mitigate harm to the children? We really want full transparency and full accountability, and we don’t want this to be a few weekends’ cleaning project. We want this completely remediated,” said Conti.
DC News Now reached out to the school district but has not heard back.
Back-to-school night is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Hayfield Secondary School.
Parents, including Conti, plan to attend and hand out informational flyers to other parents about the situation.
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