TEMECULA —— In response to a complaint alleging problems with rodents and musty classroom air at Temecula Valley High School, an official representing the state agency charged with ensuring healthy working conditions said Tuesday that the school is working to resolve the issues.

Dean Fryer, spokesman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, said the Temecula Valley Unified School District this month provided his office with a large packet of information containing contracts and invoices from rodent control companies.

"They acknowledged it was a problem and showed us that they were taking care of it," Fryer said.

The district provided the information in response to a complaint lodged with the agency Dec. 31, Fryer said, adding that the complaint was turned in by one person with "multiple" supporting signatures. He would not go into further detail, citing privacy.

District spokeswoman Danielle Clark said that the district employs a rodent control service for about 15 school sites, and rodent extermination is a typical practice in the district.

"Temecula Valley High School is adjacent to some fields and it is a very agricultural campus," Clark said. "With heavy rains and mild weather, we have an exceptional breeding environment with rodents this year, so we have stepped up our pest control."

As to the complaint, Clark said, "There was no investigation, we weren't fined and it was taken care of."

Meanwhile, she said, district officials are working to ensure food is not allowed in classrooms so that they are less likely to attract rodents.

The complaint also alleged that parts of the campus suffered from a "heavy damp smell (and) sick-building syndrome," a situation in which occupants of a building experience symptoms such as headaches, dry or itchy skin, dizziness, nausea and fatigue, but no specific illness or cause can be identified.

On Jan. 20, the agency sent a letter to Temecula Valley High School informing officials of the complaint and asking them to provide documentation on whether the conditions existed and what, if any, corrective measures were taken.

In response to this allegation, the district on Feb. 11 provided the state occupational health division with documents showing that contractors hired by the district measured contaminants in the air and found that the classrooms in question were within state standards of air quality, Fryer said. He said two tests were taken, one in December and another earlier in the year.

"The information they provided us satisfied our request," Fryer said.

The agency is sending the district's response to the main complainant to allow that person to respond, Fryer said. The agency will close the case if officials do not hear back from that person by March 16, he said.

The rodent problem was something some students were aware of, said Temecula Valley High student Kris Vasant, the former student district board representative for the campus. He said he was not aware of any mold or air problems in any of the classrooms, however.

Bob Rollins, an algebra teacher at the school who was not part of the complaint, said colleagues have told him that some of the school's portable classrooms smell strongly of mold after weekends. He also said the air-quality test results depend on when they are taken.

"If they take them in the middle of the week, after the doors have been opened and fanned through, it may pass," Rollins said. "If you take some of those readings on a Tuesday after a three-day weekend, it can be nasty in there."

Trustee Ken Ray said he was unaware of the complaint, but was not too surprised by it.

"Temecula Valley High School is right next to a natural creek and stream. … You always have problems," Ray said. "I have a mouse problem in my garage that I have been fighting for 10 years. It's just the nature of this area."

Ray said he could not address the sick-building syndrome, but added that the district has plans to build a new 24-classroom building to replace the portables.

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