93 teachers claim mold illness

Stamford educators file for workers’ comp, warn lack of ‘safe learning environment’ for students

STAMFORD — Westhill High School teacher Barbara Mroz thought the district’s mold crisis was exaggerated.

Mroz, an English as a second language teacher, said she focuses on her students, not teaching conditions. But on the Monday before Thanksgiving, something prompted her to inspect her room.

It was then she noticed “growths” on the walls and ceiling.

In the months before the discovery, Mroz felt caffeine from her morning coffee never seemed to kick in. She was tired and spacey, forgetting to make copies for students. In her desk were empty packs of cold medicine to fight congestion and the dry coughs that woke up her toddler during the night.

Something clicked. Mroz went to the doctor and found there was mold in her classroom causing her symptoms. She felt better as soon as she was removed from her room.

“I disregarded this mold issue quite honestly,” Mroz said at a Board of Education meeting last week. “At the beginning of the year, I thought this was all talk . ... Then I started to connect the dots with how I was feeling.” Mroz is one of more than 90 teachers across six Stamford Public Schools who have filed workers’ compensation claims due to moldrelated ailments. She’s one of at least 23 teachers who has had to take time off to deal with her symptoms.

“(The number of teachers out) changes daily, if not hourly,” said Stephen Falcone, the district’s executive director of human resources. “There’s been a lot of change.”

According to the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act, the claims aim to provide “wage replacement

benefits and medical treatment for employees who have been injured or become ill due to a work-related injury or illness.”

A school district document presented to the Board of Education shows 93 staff members from Westhill, Westover Magnet Elementary School (which moved campuses last month due to mold infestation), and Newfield, K.T. Murphy, Hart Magnet and Northeast elementary schools have filed claims of illness due to mold.

Falcone said the majority of claims have come from teachers and some paraprofessionals.

The report shows at least five people were out from Westover due to health concerns. At K.T. Murphy, four teachers are in the process of being seen by specialists and one teacher each at Hart and Northeast can only return when their classrooms are remediated.

Westhill was most affected with eight teachers who can’t return until their rooms are remediated, two who aren’t cleared to return and two waiting to see a medical specialist.

Falcone said he didn’t know how much time had been missed by teachers due to these claims, but said it appears the majority have been short-term absences, which means they were out for less than 30 days.

“Our focus has been on responding to these claims and working to get people back and if that’s not possible to get classes covered,” he said.

The numbers are only reflective of teachers who have filed a claim due to mold-related illness. It’s possible some teachers have been absent due to mold without filing a claim.

Parents and staff from Westhill have said the mold problem is affecting instruction, with 40 of 175 faculty members so affected they have filed claims.

“Westhill High School is a second home to me,” teacher Carley Grant said. “I absolutely love working there and being a dedicated teacher. I know my colleagues are also dedicated teachers and the decision to go out on workers’ comp is not taken lightly.

“Above the concern for the teachers being absent and student learning, we also need to be concerned for the safety of our students and our staff. We need to provide a safe learning environment for our children and the people who educate them. It’s not enough to throw a Band-Aid on the problem by spot treating certain areas and visible mold issues.”

Grant and her colleague, Alanna Gallo, called for an overhaul of the school’s HVAC system, which they said is spreading mold spores in the air.

Gallo, a teacher at Westhill who’s out on workers’ comp, said she doesn’t feel the remediation scheduled for her classroom will be enough to allow a safe return. Despite emails and photos she’s sent the city Mold Task Force outlining problems with her room’s HVAC system, including temperatures that fluctuate from 51 degrees to 92, nothing has been done, she said.

“Our students have trouble learning in that environment,” she said. “We have trouble focusing in that environment . ... This issue is not something that’s new. This dates back years.”

Gallo said substitutes have been filling in for teacher absences. But at a pay rate of $90 a day, there’s a shortage of people willing to do the job and teachers have to cover each other’s classes. According to Falcone, teachers get $40 per hour of class coverage.

From July to September this year, Stamford spent $6,338 on paying teachers for class coverage. Last year at this time, they’d spent $3,310.

The relative lack of instruction from subs is taking a toll on students, particularly those in Advanced Placement classes, parents said. Dates for AP exams, which can earn students college credit, are set for spring. If students do not cover all the material on an exam by the test date, it could affect their score, which Westhill parent Deborah Ehret pointed out will be compared to other students across the country.

Ehret’s daughter entered college this year with 18 credits from AP courses, setting her ahead of the curve. Her son is now taking four AP courses.

“My biggest concern is the number of teachers going out,” Ehret said at this week’s board meeting. “I’m concerned about the whole school. But the difference right now is I have an AP student. Right now, I have a son sitting in a classroom without an AP teacher. I have a problem with that. Every day an AP student does not have a qualified teacher, they’re being put in jeopardy.”

Ehret said Westhill Principal Michael Rinaldi is trying to identify a qualified sub for the class. However, Falcone told the Board of Representatives last month that substitute teachers only need a certificate in a certain discipline if they’re subbing the same class for 90 days. Otherwise, they only need a bachelor’s degree.

Beyond AP students, teachers expressed concern for all students affected by mold. While Deputy Superintendent Tamu Lucero said student attendance has remained the same, several students last week said they and their classmates have been suffering minor symptoms, like headaches, which might not necessarily cause them to miss school.

Mroz said her students, who don’t speak English, have been left in the classroom she was removed from and are unable to adequately communicate their symptoms.

“We deal with a disadvantaged population and we need to be thinking of them, too,” Gallo said. “It’s not just about the rich white people who have kids in AP. It’s about these other kids who come to us and expect to be safe. Their parents don’t necessarily know what’s going on and we’re not communicating with them. That’s unacceptable.”