Parents in San Diego County are demanding accountability after Poway Unified School District concealed dangerous mold contamination from families for ten days while their children attended affected classes at Black Mountain Middle School.

District Delays Critical Safety Alert

School officials discovered mold in multiple classrooms before the school year began but waited until August 22 to notify parents—a full ten days after students returned to campus on August 13. The delayed disclosure revealed varying contamination levels across more than a dozen classrooms, with testing identifying eight rooms with low mold spore levels, two with moderate levels, and four with high concentrations. District spokesman Josué Reyna confirmed initial cleaning occurred on August 10, yet a musty odor persisted in several areas even as students occupied the spaces.

Teachers responded to the hazardous conditions by wearing N95 masks to protect themselves from mold found in carpets, desks, and other classroom surfaces. The district attributed the problem to carpet cleaning procedures performed before the school year started. Officials completed additional remediation over the weekend following parent notification, including carpet cleaning, antimicrobial surface treatment, air register cleaning, and HVAC filter replacement.

Pattern of Concealment Emerges

This marks at least the second time Black Mountain Middle School has faced mold problems, according to parents who contacted local media. The repeated incidents and delayed notification have fueled accusations that district leadership prioritized avoiding disruption over protecting student health and parental rights to informed decision-making about their children’s safety.

The same district simultaneously managed another mold crisis at Del Sur Elementary School, where officials delayed the school year by one week due to moisture-related concerns discovered in classrooms. Students began classes on August 24 at an alternate campus and are expected to return to their home building by September 21. The principal cited the need to address moisture problems found earlier in August.

Parents Demand Transparency

Families are questioning why district officials failed to provide advance warning about toxic classroom conditions, denying them the opportunity to make informed choices about their children’s exposure. The district has promised a complete testing report but has not explained the decision to withhold information during the critical back-to-school period. Parents argue the ten-day silence violated their fundamental right to know about environmental hazards affecting their children and represents a breach of trust between families and school leadership.