Teachers’ Concerns About Mould Proven Correct

April 12, 2007

Local teachers’ repeated concerns about mould in Lambton-Kent District School Board classrooms have proven to be right in every instance, says the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO).

According to ETFO First Vice-President David Clegg, the health of hundreds of students and teachers would still be at risk if local ETFO members had not strongly voiced their concerns about mould in their classrooms.

“I wish it was not the case, but the teachers have been proven right at every turn,” said Clegg.  “In January, we stated that, based on teacher complaints, we believed there was mould at Brooke Central.  This turned out to be correct.  We also said that in spite of the Board’s assertions to the contrary, Lansdowne Public School had mould.  On Tuesday, so much mould was found at Lansdowne that two portables will have to be demolished. 

Clegg noted that mould has also been confirmed in eight other Lambton-Kent schools.  ETFO has called for an independent expert to be hired to test all Board schools for mould.  The Board has agreed to test just two schools. 

“That is not good enough.  All students and teachers must be protected,” stressed Clegg. 

“We want all of the schools with problems to be effectively investigated, not just two.  We are not prepared to play roulette with the health and safety of students and teachers,” said Clegg.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario represents more than 70,000 public elementary school teachers and education workers across Ontario and is the largest teacher federation in Canada.