Parents Claim Neglect As District Closes School For Mold, Water Damage

SANTA MONICA, CA — The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District removed students from the joint John Muir Elementary School and SMASH campus for repairs at the start of this year, but parents on Thursday said the response was too little, too late.

The district removed students from the campus serving the Ocean Park community to address significant "ongoing and persistent water intrusion issues in several buildings," — repairs that are expected to last until 2024, according to the district. At a rally outside the district office on Thursday, parents claimed the issues have been going on for many years with little attention from authorities.

The full extent of damages on the John Muir/SMASH campus, which parents say include significant mold and leaking ceilings, were discovered during the district's modernization project, according to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

"Over the years, we've seen issues and problems, and we addressed those more surgically. First, we did some roof repairs, then we did some repairs in the windows," Chief Operations Officer Carey Upton said. "Each of those helped the problem but didn't quite solve the problem. Then we did a repair of the decks, and that also helped the problem but didn't solve the problem. What we found as we were doing our modernization project, and when we got some big rains in December, was we had a much more serious problem than we thought we had."

A study from May shows visible water damage in 11 classrooms and visible mold growth in one. Air testing confirmed elevated levels of mold in at least one classroom. The report, which can be viewed online, also includes photos of water damage and mold in classrooms.

Considering the water damage, it was expected that more intensive inspection would reveal "hidden" mold growth, according to the report.

"It’s important to note that once moisture is introduced to certain building materials, it generally takes about 24-48 hours for mold to begin growing; therefore, based on these results, the history of moisture intrusion and visual observations, additional 'hidden' mold growth is suspected within the impacted wall and ceiling cavities," according to a district's report.

The district embarked on a major construction project to re-waterproof the buildings. That will include redoing stucco and replacing windows, according to Upton. As a result, more than 200 students were transferred to other district schools through August, 2024.

Parents on Thursday drew attention to what they say was neglect.

"If you don't listen when your employees tell you there's mold, the problem gets worse, and you end up spending millions on mitigation and lawsuits. That's exactly what's happening, and it's' our kids who suffer," said Miles Warner, a Franklin Elementary School parent. "The mold was known about for years and not addressed."

Parents noted that John Muir is one of the district’s Title 1 schools and has a relatively high percentage of socioeconomically disadvantaged students, based on California Department of Education data. The district's failures follow a history of inattentiveness to John Muir's students, said TJ Hill, a John Muir parent.

"Our beloved John Muir Elementary has long been underfunded, under-resourced and neglected by the SMMUSD," Hill said. "After years of facility neglect, our school was unceremoniously taken from us in a process that served to confuse, disempower and disenfranchise the members of our community, many of whom are already marginalized. We have had enough of the inequitable treatment, broken promises and vague plans for the future of our school."

Many speakers at Thursday's rally wanted a more definitive promise that Muir will be reopened in its original form and that parents will be formally included in conversations about the process.

"It was perhaps the best school I've ever been to. I had a sense of community there. I felt like I was part of this big family," said Lucky Basseri, a John Muir alum. "That school, John Muir, is truly a staple of the Ocean Park family. It is very upsetting to see what is happening to it right now as its future hangs in the balance. All I'm asking for right now is to see that school have its future decided in a positive way where we can keep this community together."

The district promised it would reinstate a neighborhood school as soon as it's safe to do so, which will be preceded by community meetings. The school will likely still be called Muir, but final decisions have not been made yet, Upton said.

"There will be a renewed and restored neighborhood school once the necessary work is done on the affected buildings to ensure that the facilities are safe and ready to welcome students and teachers back," Superintendent Ben Drati wrote in a letter to the school community. "Beginning in early November, we will commence meetings with a committee of parents and staff from Muir and SMASH where we will be ready to discuss programs and opportunities for the renewed Muir/SMASH campus."

Board member Jon Kean reaffirmed the district was appropriately responsive to John Muir's damage. He accused the parents of using children as pawns in a political scheme.

"The school district and Board have been very attentive to the facility concerns at Muir/SMASH over the recent years," Kean said. "It is a shame that while Muir, SMASH, and other elementary campuses throughout SMMUSD have accepted this temporary disruption to their school's routines and have embraced the challenges for the benefit of students, others in the community are sadly using this complicated time to score political points against the school district with students as their pawns."