Friendswood families have a price tag for the mold crisis that delayed the start of school at Westwood Elementary: approximately $1.3 million.
The Friendswood ISD board of trustees approved the emergency expenditure at its Monday, Sept. 28, workshop, covering mold remediation, HVAC replacement and roof repairs at the campus on Laurel Drive, Community Impact first reported. The money comes from the district's capital projects fund.
The price tag had been an open question since August, when the board first authorized Superintendent Thad Roher to oversee emergency agreements and expenses to restore the campus. At that time, the district said the total cost was unknown.
What caused the mold
In July, a third-party environmental consultant conducted air and surface testing at Westwood Elementary after staff reported increased moisture and visible mold. The results showed elevated levels of Penicillium/Aspergillus and Cladosporium but no black mold or other toxic mold, according to KHOU.
The district's remediation contractor, Texas General Contractors, traced the problem to two causes. The building's heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system could not control moisture during June and July. Moisture from part of that system also saturated sections of the roof deck and spread into the building.
In an Aug. 5 statement announcing the delayed school start, the district acknowledged it fell short of its community's expectation for safe learning environments and took responsibility for correcting both the immediate issues and the underlying causes, according to KPRC 2.
What the remediation involved
Workers removed rooftop HVAC units serving the kindergarten area, stripped all interior carpet for replacement and cleaned the entire campus three times with antimicrobial cleaner, KGTX 7 reported. Commercial-grade air scrubbers ran throughout the building. Crews tested and replaced wall sections where conditions required it.
The board met Aug. 5 and approved emergency remediation measures, authorizing Roher to manage the work. No other Friendswood ISD campuses were affected.
Students returned six days late
Westwood Elementary students started class Aug. 24, six days after the rest of the 6,194-student district began its school year Aug. 18. Teachers visited each of their students at home before the delayed opening to build relationships, according to a district parent letter.
Before reopening, environmental testing firm ASE Services confirmed all 26 areas of the campus met air quality standards, the district said in its Aug. 18 parent letter. A separate firm, SETX Environmental Inc., also confirmed the campus met standards, according to Community Impact.
The district's calendar included enough instructional minutes to cover two of the four missed school days. For the remaining two, the district planned to apply to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for a waiver.
No individual board member votes or a breakdown of the $1.3 million across specific line items appeared in public records from the Sept. 28 workshop.
