Experts to examine classroom conditions

By: JENNIFER KABBANY - Staff Writer | Wednesday, July 19, 2006 10:13 PM PDT ∞

TEMECULA ---- Trustees this week agreed to hire science and engineering experts to research and evaluate recently conducted tests probing classroom conditions at Vail Ranch Middle School.

Hiring the experts is part of a longer process of determining if there is a connection between the conditions of some portable classrooms at the Temecula Valley Unified School District campus and the diagnosis of two teachers with pulmonary fibrosis, which scars the lungs and can be terminal.

The two teachers taught in the same portable classroom at the campus.

While there are more than 100 known causes of the lung disease, district officials have said they are taking the two teachers' illnesses seriously and are working to investigate the situation with vigor.

To that end, the recent extensive testing of the entire campus, which took two weeks and took place toward the end of June, cost about $65,000, said Superintendent Carol Leighty.

The newly hired experts will evaluate the lengthy and complicated testing results and report their findings to a recently formed committee of parents, teachers and other officials, she said.

An initial review of the test results found "nothing out of the normal range," Leighty said.

"I am confident we are going to be fine, but we are not leaving any stone unturned," she said.

Leighty said she also is hoping the two teachers share their medical records to assist the probe.

The recently hired experts work for the international company Exponent, which has a large staff of scientists, physicians and engineers, some of whom are affiliated with prestigious universities. The experts provide technical expertise and in-depth scientific research and analysis.

The review's costs could hit $15,000, Leighty said, adding that one of the experts who will review the Vail Ranch data is a UC Irvine educator specializing in pulmonary disorders and industrial hygiene.

School district officials also had the school's classrooms tested last spring and found nothing unusual, but many teachers at the school voiced concerns at recent board meetings about the conditions of some of the school's portables, contending there were mold and rodent problems.

Maureen Nixon is a teacher at Vail Ranch who spoke before the board in May, saying she was addressing them as the mother of a student who attends the school and who was diagnosed with a possibly environmentally related respiratory illness.

Nixon said Wednesday she was pleased with the investigation's progress thus far.

"I am happy she addressed our concerns as quickly as she did," Nixon said of Leighty. "After the board meeting where we had discussed our concerns, she was at our site the next day addressing our staff. She was obviously very concerned and testing started immediately. I am really anxious to see what the results are."

Nixon said that regardless of the results, fellow teachers were alarmed that their two colleagues who taught in the same classroom over the last several years were diagnosed with the same severe disease. She said more of an emphasis needs to be placed on classroom maintenance and upkeep.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.

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