Congresswoman Wants Key Middle School Closed Permanently
POSTED: Monday, November 5, 2007
UPDATED: 5:46 pm CST November 5,
2007
HOUSTON -- A congresswoman has demanded that a school that has been closed for several months because of health issues be closed forever, KPRC Local 2 reported Monday.
Teachers and staff at Key Middle School complained of a variety of symptoms including nausea and headaches while inside the building at the beginning of the school year.
The school was closed in September while the Houston Independent School District and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted invasive testing. Tests showed there was mold in the school.
The students and teachers were moved to Fleming Middle School, but parents and teachers have said the campus is overcrowded.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said the school district at least needs to a brick-by-brick cleaning of the school, but she said she really wants to see the teachers, staff and students get a new school.
"I will be asking the school district for an inventory of mold throughout the district, but I'm asking for this contaminated school to be closed," she said. "I think this is a singular example of other school situations that maybe we the voting public are not even aware of."
Some parents said they would never allow their children to go back into Key.
"I want a new school for my children because I'm not going to be bringing them back here," mother Marla Martinez said.
The school district declined to respond to the demand for the school's closure.
"Our first priority will always be sure our students and employees are safe," Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said. "We are continuing to work diligently to make sure that Key Middle School and all HISD schools are safe."
Voters will decide Tuesday on a $805 million school bond that would, in part, benefit Key Middle School, but it would not be rebuilt. Jackson Lee and many parents have expressed their opposition to the bond.
Previous Stories: - October 31, 2007: Most Key MS Staff Members File Compensation Claims
- October 19, 2007: CDC Finds Mold At Key Middle School
- October 12, 2007: Protest Dwindles Outside Key Middle School
- October 10, 2007: Walkout Canceled At Middle School
- October 10, 2007: Community Leaders Plan Protest At Key Middle School
- September 28, 2007: CDC Finds Issues At Key Middle School
- September 26, 2007: Middle Schools Merge While Campus Tested
- September 21, 2007: Key Students, Staff Relocated To Fleming
- September 21, 2007: Key MS Has History Of Humidity Problems
- September 20, 2007: Key Middle School To Temporarily Close
- September 19, 2007: Congresswoman Wants Everyone Out Of Key MS
- September 15, 2007: Students: Mold At School Made Us Sick
- September 12, 2007: More Teachers Sickened At Key Middle School
- September 10, 2007: 2 Teachers Sickened At Key Middle School
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