A California school district faces mounting backlash after waiting ten days to inform parents that their children attended classes contaminated with mold—some at high levels—raising serious questions about transparency and student safety in the state’s public schools.
Parents Learn of Danger Days After Exposure
The Poway Unified School District in San Diego County sent an email to parents on August 22 revealing that the principal at Black Mountain Middle School had discovered mold in multiple classrooms before the school year began. The notification came ten days after students returned from summer break on August 13, meaning children had already been exposed to the contaminated environment for nearly two weeks. District officials offered no explanation for the delay in alerting families.
Testing revealed mold spores in more than a dozen classrooms at varying levels of severity. Eight classrooms showed low levels of contamination, two had moderate levels, and four tested positive for high levels of mold spores. Teachers began wearing N95 masks after discovering mold in carpets, desks, and other surfaces throughout the building. The district acknowledged that despite cleaning efforts on August 10, a musty odor persisted in affected areas.
Second Campus Also Affected
The mold problem extends beyond Black Mountain Middle School. Del Sur Elementary School in the same district delayed its school year by one week due to moisture-related concerns discovered in August. Students from that campus started classes on August 24 at an alternate location and are expected to return to their home campus by September 21. The recurring nature of these incidents has prompted parents to question whether this represents a pattern of negligence.
District spokesman Josue Reyna told reporters that officials completed additional cleaning and remediation over the weekend, including carpet cleaning, antimicrobial surface treatments, air register cleaning, and HVAC filter replacements. The district is investigating whether pre-school-year carpet cleaning procedures may have caused the mold growth. Parents who spoke to local media said this is not the first time mold has been found at Black Mountain Middle School.
Questions About Accountability
The delayed notification has sparked outrage among parents who want to know why they were not informed before sending their children back to school. The district has promised follow-up testing and a complete report on the contamination levels. California law requires schools to maintain safe learning environments, and the failure to promptly disclose health hazards raises potential liability concerns. Parents are now demanding answers about what officials knew, when they knew it, and why families were kept in the dark while their children sat in contaminated classrooms.