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Community wants emergency action to remove mold from high school

ATLANTA — Community activists are demanding action after some students complained about mold in their high school.

School officials at Booker T. Washington High School have been dealing mold and mildew problems since August, but it keeps coming back.

Monday night, students, parents, lawmakers and community activists held a "state of emergency rally" at Lindsey Street Baptist Church.

They are demanding that Atlanta Public Schools officials get rid of the problem once and for all.

Parents showed Channel 2 Action News pictures of moldy band uniforms and sewage problems. The APS facilities department said they cleaned it up, but students say the problem persists.

"Mold is in the auditorium on the seats, it's in the TV room, ice trays in the cooking room," student Alexis Moss said.

"I think they need to get off their butts, stop lying to us, fix that school and put those kids somewhere safe and do what they need," parent Valerie Sims said.

Byron Amos, a school board member, said he, along with school board members Nancy Meister, and Courtney English, emailed Board President Reuben McDaniel to request a special call meeting for the end of the week.

Community activist and radio show host Derrick Boazman says he plan to deliver a demand letter to Superintendent Erroll Davis Tuesday morning.

The Atlanta Public School District released this statement on Monday:

"We believe the mold issues at Booker T. Washington High School are residual cases from the initial cases that were reported and not an indication of ongoing mold in the building. The Atlanta Public Schools Facilities Services Department continues to clean any surface mold that is discovered. New HVAC units have been ordered, and temporary units installed until they arrive. As a result of the weather changing to cool and dry, and the installation of the temporary units, the mold issue should dissipate. However, APS will continue to respond to any incidents of mold, if needed."