Education Week - February 1, 2023 - 13

Last October, a separate jury ruled that Monsanto owes
three Sky Valley parents and seven students a total of $275 million
in damages due to PCB exposure. The company is appealing
that verdict. A spokesperson from Monsanto said the school district
should have heeded repeated warnings from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency to remove aging fluorescent light
ballasts that may have been contaminated.
Education Week reviewed video footage of testimony from that
trial, including from several ailing children, who fought back tears
at times as they described how mental and respiratory illnesses
have upended their lives. " I feel embarrassed and scared for the
future and what it might be like for me, " one teenage girl said.
This list is virtually certain to balloon. In October, a parent
in Colonia, N.J., revealed she'd found evidence of PCBs at
her child's high school, following widespread reports of cancer
among teachers.
Three-quarters of school principals and district leaders who
Construction crews
at Burlington High
discovered potentially
dangerous levels of
PCBs while preparing
for a renovation
project.
Burlington High
students now learn
in a temporary facility
that used to be a
Macy's department
store, complete with
escalators and fashion
brand logos.
answered a nationally representative EdWeek Research Center
survey last fall said at least one school building in their district
was built or last renovated between 1950 and 1980, when
PCBs in commercial construction were at their peak. One in 5
said more than three-quarters of their buildings date back to that
time period.
Slightly less than one-quarter of district leaders and principals
who responded to the EdWeek Research Center survey said their
school or district has tested HVAC systems for PCBs in the last
five years. Seventeen percent said they've tested indoor air for
PCBs.
But experts say many school district leaders are often reluctant
to test for PCBs, for a few reasons.
Figuring out how to get rid of them, who can do that work, how
long it will take, and how much it will cost is time-consuming and
punishing, particularly for districts with limited resources. Communicating
findings to the public often means stirring up fear,
anxiety, and mistrust. PCBs aren't well-known enough for politicians
to see much value in fighting for their eradication.
Burlington High School's experience encapsulates many of
those issues.
When PCBs were discovered there, state and federal leaders
and principal scientist for Environmental Health Engineering, a
private contractor. " And yet, we also recognize that districts have
a very serious and important mission to educate these children.
And, of course, there's [not enough] money. It just makes for a
very, very difficult dilemma. "
Coghlan has contributed testimony on behalf of plaintiffs in
legal cases against Monsanto.
Contamination from PCBs and exposure to them led to multimillion
dollar lawsuits against school districts and Monsanto,
the company now owned by Bayer that served as the sole manufacturer
of PCBs in the U.S. during the 21st century. For its part,
Monsanto rejects all accusations that it's responsible for the consequences
of PCB contamination or exposure in schools.
In schools, those consequences can be devastating. For instance:
The
Clark School, an elementary school in Hartford, Conn.,
closed in 2015 after crews discovered toxic levels of PCBs during
a sprinkler installation. The city has spent the last three years
awaiting a judge's verdict on whether Monsanto should pay
$12 million for the costs of tearing down the building. Monsanto
is considering appealing any verdict from a judge that doesn't
entirely dismiss the case against the company, a spokesperson
for the company said.
Parents in Southern California, including celebrities like
model Cindy Crawford, were angered by the pace of the Santa
Monica-Malibu district's response in the early 2010s to findings
of high levels of PCBs at Malibu High School as well as widespread
reports of teachers developing chronic illnesses. A judge
in 2016 issued an order requiring the district to abate PCBs at the
school by 2024; that work is in progress.
In Washington state, dozens of teachers and students were
sickened after prolonged exposure to PCBs at the Sky Valley Education
Center in the Monroe district. Last summer, three former
Sky Valley teachers won a $185 million jury verdict that deemed
Monsanto financially responsible for those illnesses, which the
company is appealing. A spokesperson for Monsanto contends
that some evidence in the trial shouldn't have been admitted and
that the company shouldn't be liable because of laws in Washington
state that restrict liability lawsuits against manufacturers.
The district, meanwhile, in February 2022 agreed to a $34 million
settlement in multiple lawsuits by roughly 200 students and
parents in the community over PCB contamination and exposure.
When I see memories on
my phone, it makes me so
sad. I love it here, but it's
like, obviously we're
going to miss our [old]
high school.
GABY SCHULMAN
Senior, Burlington High School
eventually urged the district to permanently shut down the campus.
That meant scrambling to find a local building that could
function as a temporary school, retrofitting a former Macy's department
store to serve that purpose, and pressing state leaders
for funding to support it all.
All the while, school and district leaders were trying to persuade
a divided and skeptical public already enduring the COVID
pandemic that each new decision was the right one.
Cost alone is a major factor for the district, which spends about
$11,000 per year per student, according to federal data. That's
roughly $2,000 below the national average. Slightly less than half
of the district's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
But Vermont, which halted nearly all state aid for school construction
in 2007, is one of nearly a dozen states that offers virtually
no money for improving school facilities. Though Burlington
voters in 2018 approved a $70 million bond to renovate the old
high school buildings, that work didn't begin in earnest until 2020.
Now, while administrators find funds and contractors to construct
a new building, the urban district with a $98 million operating
budget is paying a private developer $1 million a year to rent
the downtown building previously occupied by Macy's.
The district last summer launched a campaign to convince voters
to approve a $165 million bond that will make up the bulk of the
cost of an entirely new high school. More than three-quarters of voters
endorsed the bond; construction is slated to begin later this year.
In the meantime, administrators have applied for 16 private,
state, and federal grants to ease taxpayers' burden. On Oct. 13,
they announced plans to sue Monsanto to compensate for the
costs of the PCB disruptions.
" From the moment our school was shut down due to the presence
of these toxic chemicals, we've considered a lawsuit to hold
accountable those who have created this harm, " said Tom Flanagan,
the district's superintendent. The district filed the lawsuit on
Dec. 9. Monsanto has argued in court that the company needs
more time to examine the buildings before the district tears the
structure down. On Jan. 20, the district and Monsanto agreed on
a demolition start date of Feb. 18.
On Oct. 24, during a meeting with lawmakers, Vermont Gov.
Phil Scott said the state is considering legal action against Monsanto
as well, VT Digger reported.
Money isn't the only concern. Last October, two special education
teachers who worked at the school within the last seven years
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