Mold Surprises Officials at Cleveland High

August 5, 2001

August 3, 2001, 04:15 PM

By Flick and Amy Palanuk, KGW Staff

A surprise find at Cleveland High School in Southeast Portland - a

construction project unveils mold lurking throughout the ceiling.

When workers pulled back a tile near the gymnasium yesterday, they uncovered

a trail of mold lining the ceiling.

KGW toured the high school today, checking out the school's seismic upgrade

project with construction workers.

" I didn't know it was there, " said head custodian Rod Thrasher.

Thrasher said there were no water stains on the tiles, so no one knew the

mold was even present.

The find is so new, Director of Facilities Pam Brown found out about the

problem from KGW.

" I think we need to take care of it right away so we'll be abating that

right away, " said Brown.

The discovery of mold comes the same week Whitaker Middle School was shut

down because of mold throughout the walls and ceiling.

Newslink: Unsafe School: Whitaker Won't Reopen

Whitaker won't re-open this year and 650 students will have to go somewhere

else.

Last year, Toutle Elementary in Southwest Washington became a toxic cleanup

site after mold was found. It was closed for a year.

A cleanup has been ordered for Cleveland High School, and possibly other

schools.

When asked whether the discovery could signal a larger problem, the district

assured us they would find out.

" Mold is something that we hadn't really looked for too much in the past, "

said Thrasher.

The district will change that. Custodians were given a checklist this week

in a new process to document cleaning.

But adding to the difficulties -- due to budget cuts, the custodial staff

has also been cut back.

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