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Dearborn school union raises safety concerns as board discusses reporting system and bond support
Summary
At a Dearborn City School District board meeting, a union representative urged immediate attention to building problems including mold, rodents and extreme classroom temperatures while trustees and staff discussed reporting, remediation protocols and a possible future bond to address long-term infrastructure needs.
Kathy Martin, a representative of the Dearborn Federations of Teachers, told the Dearborn City School District Board of Education on Monday that teachers are working in unsafe building conditions and urged immediate action on repairs and remediation.
Martin said some classrooms are as cold as 60 degrees and that other teachers have reported rooms that are “basically an inferno” with no windows. “We have mold issues in the district. We have rodent issues,” she said, adding that contractors the district uses are understaffed and that some work orders take an uncertain amount of time to resolve.
District staff described existing reporting and remediation procedures and trustees pressed for a more transparent, trackable system for building complaints and work orders.
“Safety is our top priority,” said Dr. Malayko, a member of district administration, asking that specific reports be sent to her and to Mark Andrews so the district can investigate. She said the district prioritizes heating, electrical and other safety-related repairs and sometimes relocates teachers while work is completed. “If you have some specifics, if you send it to me and to Mark Andrews we will get on top of it,” she said.
Michelle Zayat, a district operations staff member, described the district’s air-quality complaint form and the testing and remediation process. “We do have an air quality complaint form and we use that for anybody in Dearborn Schools can fill this form out,” Zayat said. She said the district uses an environmental consulting company to test for mold and other issues, follows the company’s recommendations, and relocates classrooms until remediation is complete.
Zayat also told trustees that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies do not set a numeric mold threshold. “The EPA and the state do not have a mold threshold,” she said, explaining that mold levels vary with temperature and conditions and that testing results can change from day to day. She said the district uses EPA-recommended forms and follows consultant guidance when mold is discovered.
Trustees asked several operational questions about how teachers submit complaints and how quickly the district responds. District staff said the air-quality form and other work-order processes can be submitted electronically or on paper, and that building engineers generally open tickets and direct repairs. The board heard that staffing levels for HVAC and trades are limited; one staff speaker said the district has three HVAC technicians and that resolving issues can depend on parts availability and lead times.
Multiple trustees urged a central, transparent system that would allow the district and teachers to track reports from initial submission through completion. “Maybe there can be a system where a teacher or someone in the building submits something through the system and then it gets approved by the engineer,” said Trustee O’Dowdamy. Trustee Watts and others said showing status updates (parts ordered, estimated completion) would help teachers plan class activities around known outages or relocations.
Some trustees cautioned against casual use of the phrase “black mold” without testing. Trustee Berry said inspectors should verify claims before they are broadcast. “There’s some responsibility on us here not to put that out there that there’s black mold,” Berry said, urging prompt inspections.
Board discussion also connected immediate repairs to longer-term financing. Dr. Malayko and other staff noted that the district lacks state infrastructure funding and that a future bond would address larger projects but not immediate safety needs. “A bond may be long term; it’s something that we need to do now for the future but in the interim…we find ways to use our general fund,” Malayko said.
As a near-term administrative step, the board directed staff to consider ways to track requests more transparently. At the meeting, trustees and staff agreed to place discussion of a district-wide tracking/workflow system on the cabinet agenda for the following day so the district can explore technology and process options.
The conversation combined union testimony about health and learning impacts with technical explanations of the district’s existing remediation and reporting practices. Trustees requested clearer, districtwide transparency about incoming requests and response status, while staff said the district already uses a variety of work-order and air-quality processes and will review whether those tools can be extended or consolidated.
No formal vote was taken on policy changes or funding at the meeting.
Looking ahead, district staff and trustees said they will pursue operational fixes and continue discussions about a potential bond to fund major infrastructure work.
