My Advice for Addressing a Mold Problem in Your Child’s School

One of the scariest things for a parent to face is the possibility of their child or children being exposed to dangerous levels of mold while at school. I mean, isn’t there is enough to have to worry about as a parent without having to put something like mold on your radar too? I wish that were the case, but, unfortunately, sick school buildings are a very real and a vey big problem in this country and around the world. Case in point, try to listen to or watch the news without encountering a “mold in schools” story. It is near impossible.

From where I sit these days, writing a mold blog and interacting with people and families facing mold problems in their homes, I hear about and “see” this problem on almost a daily basis.  One day, I’ll hear from a teacher who became sick from mold in a school where they worked or are working, and the next, I’ll hear from a parent trying to navigate how to put their child back into school without further harming their health now that the child is mold-sensitive from experiencing a major mold exposure in a toxic home. Many parents who I speak with are even opting to home school, because it is a less stressful (for them and their child) alternative as they can fully control the physical environment at home. But, abandoning school buildings altogether is not a viable option for everyone.  For example, many teachers cannot quit their jobs or transfer to other schools immediately just to escape a moldy environment to save their health. And, many families, especially those with a single parent or with two parents that work outside of the home, are not physically able to homeschool. Additionally, if a parent has been made sick by mold, sometimes they are not well enough to home school. Thus, the whole “schools and mold question” must be addressed.