Parents in San Diego County are demanding accountability after the Poway Unified School District waited ten days to inform them that their children had been attending classes in mold-contaminated rooms at Black Mountain Middle School.
Delay Sparks Parental Outcry
The district sent an email to parents on August 22 revealing that the school principal had reported mold in multiple classrooms before the academic year began. Students had already returned to campus on August 13, spending nearly two weeks in potentially hazardous conditions before families received any notification. Testing revealed varying contamination levels across fourteen classrooms, with eight showing low mold spore counts, two moderate, and four registering high levels.
Teachers responded to the health threat by wearing N95 masks as mold appeared in carpets, desks, and other classroom surfaces. District officials attempted initial cleaning on August 10, but a persistent musty odor lingered in affected areas. Parents who spoke with local media indicated this was not the first mold incident at the school, raising questions about recurring maintenance failures and inadequate transparency from district leadership.
District Response and Remediation
Poway Unified School District spokesman Josué Reyna outlined weekend remediation efforts including carpet cleaning, antimicrobial surface treatment, air register cleaning, and HVAC filter replacement. The district acknowledged investigating whether pre-school-year carpet cleaning procedures may have triggered the contamination. Officials promised follow-up testing to verify the effectiveness of cleaning measures, though final test results remained pending when parents received notification.
The controversy extends beyond Black Mountain Middle School. Del Sur Elementary, also within the Poway district, delayed its school year opening by one week due to moisture-related concerns discovered in August. Students began classes on August 24 at an alternate location and are expected to return to their home campus by September 21, highlighting systemic facility maintenance challenges across multiple district properties.
Accountability Questions Mount
The ten-day notification delay raises serious concerns about district priorities and parental rights. Families expect timely information about environmental hazards that could affect their children’s health, particularly when officials possess advance knowledge of contamination issues. The pattern of mold problems across multiple schools suggests potential deficiencies in facility inspection protocols and preventive maintenance programs. Parents now question whether district leadership values administrative convenience over student safety and transparent communication with families who entrust their children to public schools.
