Moldy Buildings: Troubling Trend For Many Districts

By Mark Stricherz

A school in Portland, Maine, was closed forever last month. The Romeo, Mich., district started the school year four days late. And students from a high school in St. Charles, Ill., now are forced to take their classes at a middle school.

The culprit in each case was mold, literally a growing problem in the nation's schools.

At least a dozen schools recently have been closed for days or weeks, and in three cases permanently, to fight mold. Lawsuits over illnesses associated with mold—from asthma and shortness of breath to loss of memory—have been filed by teachers. And districts have had to pay cleanup costs...