A group of five parents of former students at Cleveland's Newton D. Baker School School of the Arts has filed a lawsuit in Cuyahoga County against Cleveland Metropolitan School District, alleging the building had serious issues with mold that the district ignored.
The district board of education voted to close the school in April, citing issues with the structure, high costs to repair the building and its relative age.
Newton D. Baker had issues with its ceiling and foundation, and experienced flooding earlier this year after heavy rain, Ideastream Public Media has previously reported, with buckets being used to catch water leaking into the building. The civil lawsuit was filed Aug. 4 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
"Since at least 2023, the untreated mold infestation caused the Plaintiffs and other teachers, staff, and students of NDB to suffer physical harm, including headaches, flu and cold-like symptoms, and sinus infections," the lawsuit alleges.
The district declined to respond directly to the lawsuit Monday, issuing the following statement: "CMSD is in receipt of the legal document and has forwarded it to legal counsel to review. We will respond to it at an appropriate time."
Prior to closing the school, the district in April had the roof inspected, and hired an environmental specialist to clean the school and take air quality samples after the flooding. That analysis found no evidence of airborne black mold in the building after cleanup, although it said swabs of surfaces were "pending," the district said in an April 9 letter sent to families. The Cleveland Department of Public Health was also quoted in the letter, with Director Dr. David Margolius stating the school was safe to occupy.
"We remain committed to maintaining a safe environment for our scholars and staff," the district's April 9 letter read, noting it would continue to monitor the air quality in the building until the end of the school year.
Airborne black mold, known as "Stachybotrys/Memnoniella," was detected in the school's cafeteria and in one classroom when the environmental consultant took samples on March 25. After the consultant conducted clean-up of the school, airborne mold was no longer detected, according to a copy of the April 8 report prepared by GETCO Environmental Consultants that was shared with Ideastream Public Media by a teacher.
Stephanie Lane, the parent of a 14-year-old who attended the school up until its closure, is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. She said her son has been frequently sick with sinus-related illnesses, as were many students and parents around him, since he returned to in-person classes in 2022.
"He had talked about other students being absent frequently, teachers being absent frequently for illnesses and it was almost always... some kind of respiratory issue, sinuses, headaches, coughing, sore throat," she said. "Was it COVID? You know, that was a big thing. But it seemed pretty chronic and it seemed to increase again after he returned to school and was moved to the second floor."
Lane said she was worried more broadly with a lack of transparency by district administrators, adding that Newton D. Baker students, staff and parents were concerned about the building for years prior to its closure.
"For any kind of acknowledgement to happen, it only happened after there was damage, and tiles were literally falling on the heads of the students and teachers in class," Lane said.
She also worried that other old buildings at the district have similar problems that are going unaddressed.
Despite the issues with the building, which was constructed in the 1950s, Lane said she and other parents were upset that Newton D. Baker was closed, alleging the district didn't take care of the building.
"Aside from the environmental issues, Newton D. Baker was really like a gem in West Park. It was one of those special public schools that students could attend if they had artistic tendencies. They're able to express themselves and develop skills through art, music, dance," she said.
CMSD CEO Warren Morgan acknowledged the building's conditions were "dangerous" during the April 15 board of education meeting when the board voted to close Newton D. Baker. The district reported, "We are not sure if the building will survive conditions of another fall and winter weather during the 2025-2026 school year" in a presentation Morgan gave at that meeting.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and more than $250,000 in damages per plaintiff.
