Work Issues

I posted a few weeks ago about the mold issues in my classroom building. An AC unit broke, flooding an office and storage area of an old building, in a very damp location. It ruined much of the office, and mold proceeded to grow. And spread. It took a few days for the admin to get a handle on it. I communicated my concern to my chair, speaking for my area, and was ignored. After a colleague in my area pressed for an answer to the first question, did she comply. However, no one else in our rather large department seems to have been informed anything.

Dehumidifers are running day and night. Workmen wander in and out of classes. Okay, not my classes, but only because I scare them. Some days bring chemical smells; others the smell of new paint.

I have been assured that there is no health risk, but I doubt this assurance, for various reasons.

I do not know what to do next. I have several ideas, none of which seem able to solve my request for information, and just seem designed to get me written off as a troublemaker.

I am so frustrated. Off to the moldy building for class.

I wonder if the Health Department in your city know of this.  Bet they would close the building down until it was safe.  Your job would just be moved elsewhere until the cleaning up is finished.

 

Sherrine

If you are allowed, like Children's Protective Services (as an example), to make an anonymous call to them then this is what I would do.

Why not get a note from your Dr. stating that it's too dangerous to be around any type of exposure to mold. Do you have any sick leave or personal time that you can take?

I would think they would have to respond to your medical needs and or maybe they can make accomodations like letting you work from home, or in another building. Not sure how it's set up for you if that is possible...

That's awful about the middle school. It sounds as if they tried a clean-up for a few months to see if they could stem the growth. And then they put on their big-boy pants, and made arrangements to do the deep cleaning that was needed. What I'm learning is that unless you get extreme immediately with how you attack the growth, it spreads like wildfire.

And, yes, my administration is known for turning blind eyes. According to some older faculty, we have several buildings closed in the nineties due to mold issues. This I believe. They also say, ah, the dreaded grapevine, that four other older buildings on campus are struggling with a similar issue. This I am not sure how much I believe of that. What I do know is that under past administrations, money was spent to build new facilities, not to maintain well the old. Also, that the mistrust between faculty and admin is quite deep.

I cannot take leave, or teach somewhere else, unfortunately. This campus brought in more students than there was space for already. There are no classrooms available. I wish I could wear a mask while teaching, but that would raise more problems, for a variety of reasons.

My colleagues and I are waiting for Wednesday, to see if there is any mention of this issue that we can then push. There are two meetings where this is possible, one Monday and one Wednesday. After that, we go to institutional safety to see what we can find out.

I do not doubt they are trying cleaning. I am just more alarmed by the cavalier attitude about the health risks.

Apparently, on Monday, a professional company is coming to inspect the issue. I did not hear this from anyone in charge, but from the guys doing the maintenance in the building. I do hope that next week, this is addressed either in the whole school meeting on Monday, or my departmental meeting on Wednesday. If not, we will be starting to address institutional safety as well as my chair, and we plan to bring it up in Faculty Senate on Friday.

I do plan to go to the doctor and ask for a mold test, regardless of this outcome.

The AC is still out and the boiler next to my theatre classroom overflowed, sending water into the classroom.

SB-this is a university. No, the students have not been informed; neither have the faculty that work in the affected building. And, yes, it's a problem. Information is the valuable currency here-and it is squeezed tight and not shared. Like many large companies, the right hand doesn't talk to the left hand. It makes me angry, and then sad, because being angry takes way too much energy.