Poughkeepsie school conditions spark complaints, lawsuits

Poughkeepsie City School District building conditions have played a part in lawsuits and complaints over the past few years, records show.

In April, an unnamed employee alleged that "teachers have gotten sick due to environment of working in basement classrooms" at Clinton Elementary School, and blamed "possible mold contamination and poor indoor air quality," according to a report from the state Department of Labor's Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) bureau.

PESH does not check for mold behind walls, in heating, ventilating or air-conditioning systems, or in any other "hidden" areas.

In the areas of Clinton it did check, "no mold was visible... and there were no mold/mildew-type odors noticed anywhere," PESH said in an investigation report. "Some general air screening sampling was conducted in six locations in the basement," and tests for air contaminants such as carbon monoxide were negative.

The Poughkeepsie Journal was provided with incomplete documentation on PESH's Clinton investigation, so the ultimate outcome is unclear.

"I am unaware of any negative findings by PESH at Clinton," Interim Superintendent Kathleen Farrell told the Journal. "What I do know is that if there were negative findings at Clinton, remedial activity would have immediately occurred." 

A lawsuit filed in 2017 on behalf of a student at Poughkeepsie's alternative program, which is housed in the former Christopher Columbus school building, alleges (among other things) that the teen experienced "severe allergies and asthmatic episodes... due to the moldy conditions in the basement, ventilation and cafeteria," according to court documents.

In a letter filed as part of the lawsuit, a Poughkeepsie-based allergist-immunologist who was treating the student, wrote that he "has been complaining of increasing headaches as well as some abdominal discomfort and abdominal pain and breathing difficulty."

Tests had revealed the student was allergic to certain molds, and while "there is no evidence of his asthma flaring, I have advised (his) mother to raise issues about air quality and water quality at school..." the doctor wrote.

Roy Watterson, a former school monitor and greeter, filed a claim for workers compensation benefits in 2015, alleging that he was exposed to mold during a brief stint at Warring Elementary School. The exposure exacerbated his other medical issues, according to Watterson, who has worked at other district schools as well.

The worker's compensation board rejected Watterson's claim in May 2016. It appears that a motion to reopen and reconsider that decision was denied by the state Supreme Court Appellate Division on Nov. 1. 

A doctor performed an independent medical exam on Watterson, reviewed medical and environmental hygiene records, which "found no spores/fungi" in the area of the school tested, according to legal documents, which Watterson gave the Journal. "...There does not (appear) to be a cause and effect relationship between the injuries sustained and the work-related incident reported."

A lawyer representing Watterson at the time filed a memorandum a month after the claim was rejected, calling the decision "premature in light of laboratory results which became available after the testimony of doctors was taken... (the law office had just received) copies of allergen tests performed at John Hopkins. As can be seen from those reports, (Watterson) was read to have had an exposure to Aspergilous mold."

In a follow-up letter to Watterson, his attorney wrote: "Those results, of course, do not indicate where the exposure occurred, but it is more than we had at the time that the doctors testified."

Watterson told the Journal that he is "highly allergic to mold" and blames the conditions of the school for the severity of his medical issues.

Farrell declined comment on both legal actions.

Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518, Twitter: @pojonschutzman

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