Virginia law requires school districts to submit a mold plan. Only 15 have.
At an October meeting in 2023, the union representing Richmond Public Schools teachers asked the Richmond School Board to adopt a resolution it wrote acknowledging a mold problem within the district.
The resolution was created after numerous complaints from school staff and parents detailed the presence and impact of mold in various schools, particularly Clark Springs Elementary School – which was used as a swing space for William Fox Elementary students at the time – and Thomas C. Boushall Middle School.
It thus called for the superintendent to “create protocols … to identify and immediately remediate excessive temperatures, mold, humidity, and other indoor air quality conditions that can pose a threat to public health.”
The resolution was never made public or posted online, as advised by the division’s attorneys, who called the resolution “inflammatory” in emails because it could be perceived as an admission of liability, according to a VPM News article from the time.
“Many of the directives in the resolution are already enshrined in Virginia code,” said Anne Forrester, at the time the vice president of the Richmond Education Association.
The Virginia code she was referring to requires local school boards to “develop and implement a plan to test and, if necessary, a plan to remediate mold in public school buildings in accordance with guidance issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.” That plan, along with test results if needed, should then be submitted to the Virginia Department of Health.
But on Tuesday this year, a spokesperson for the VDH told The Richmonder that RPS had not submitted a plan or test results to the department since the law went into effect in 2021. The same goes for Henrico County Public Schools, Hanover County Public Schools, and 115 other school divisions around the state who are subject to the requirement.
The law does not give the department enforcing authority, the VDH spokesperson said, adding that only 15 school divisions, including Chesterfield County Public Schools, had sent a mold sampling plan to the department.
A spokesperson for RPS shared the division does have a plan, which was created by former Chief Operating Officer Dana Fox in October 2023.
When asked about the discrepancy between the VDH’s lack of a plan from the division, the RPS spokesperson responded Thursday, saying that RPS has “been in contact with the VDH and this has been rectified.” The VDH confirmed to The Richmonder that RPS sent over a plan that meets the requirements the same day.
The VDH spokesperson said the department has not yet received any test results from RPS.
“However, the school system has been in contact with VDH and said we should be receiving them shortly,” they said.
RPS has been plagued with the issue of mold for years, largely due to faulty and declining HVAC systems in century-old buildings, which teachers and parents say has been detrimental to student and teacher health.
Victoria A. Ifatusin
“My co-workers are getting sick, my students are getting sick, and I am getting sick,” said Chloe Tremper, a teacher at Boushall Middle, speaking of the impacts of the mold in the building at an October 2023 meeting.
Back in 2015, the old Elkhardt Middle School, previously located near Huguenot High School on the city’s Southside, shut down due to toxic mold present in the school building. RPS had conducted mold testing between 2023 and 2024 following complaints from school community members about mold in various schools. Last year, teachers found mold in the school auditorium at Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary, right before it was set to open for students.
And most recently, two schools – Barack Obama Elementary and Bellevue Elementary School – closed just days before and into the start of this school year following definite and suspected reports of mold in their buildings.
Victoria A. Ifatusin
A mold plan had been requested by former school board members in 2023, following concerns at the time.
“Is it possible for you to provide us with a true sustainability plan on what this looks like? Because remediation is one thing,” said former School Board member Nicole Jones at a September 2023 meeting. She currently represents the 9th District on City Council.
She continued: “Is there any way that you could maybe provide us with a plan of what this is going to look like in the future? Because we have so many schools that are experiencing so much of this and just the testing and the remediation is not sustainable. And it’s not sustainable financially either.”
The requests led to the mold policy written by Fox.
But Fox’s policy didn’t quench REA’s thirst for the Board to adopt their resolution, which was almost solely upheld by 3rd District Councilor Kenya Gibson, the former district school board representative.
The majority of the School Board voted it down each time Gibson brought it up, though, which was the attorney’s advice.
Instead, the attorney suggested that Superintendent Jason Kamras meet with REA to discuss the resolution and come up with amendments both parties can agree to. That meeting occurred on Nov. 10, 2023 with the administration preparing a proposal for further discussion with REA and the Board at the time. It is unclear what happened to that proposal.
Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org
