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From YouTube: Councilman Green, Advocates File Right-to-Know Requests Amid School Mold Reports 10-19-2017
Description
A press conference to announce the submission of Right to Know requests for environmental health threats in Philadelphia’s school buildings.
On the heels of the JB Kelly Elementary School mold outbreak that forced the school to shut down for a week, Councilman (At-Large) Derek Green joins local advocates and concerned community members to announce they’re filing a formal Right to Know request with the School District to get more information about environmental health risks at JB Kelly and other city schools.
In attendance:
Councilman (At-Large) Derek Green;
David Masur, Executive Director of PennEnvironment;
Members of the Philadelphia Healthy Schools Initiative;
A
B
A
A
So
thank
you
for
joining
us
for
today's
important
announcement
on
the
heels
of
last
week's
chronic
mold
outbreak
at
JB,
Elementary
School
in
the
city's
Germantown
neighborhood.
We
are
here
today
to
announce
that
we
have
submitted
a
formal
right-to-know
request
to
the
Philadelphia
School
District
for
a
battery
of
data
related
to
the
environmental
health,
or
sometimes
lack
thereof
in
the
city's
school
buildings.
A
A
Unfortunately,
the
example
of
JB
Kelly
is
just
the
tip
of
the
Toxic.
Iceberg
comes
to
environmental
health
threats
found
in
school
buildings
across
Philadelphia,
as
concerned
parents,
school
employees
and
as
taxpayers.
We
have
a
right
to
know
and
a
right
to
the
data
that's
easily
accessible
and
at
our
fingertips
when
it
comes
to
the
health
of
our
children
and
school
workers,
and
we
know
that
the
Democratic
decision-making
process
can
only
work
and
we
can
only
tackle
problems
when
the
public
has
access
to
information.
Facts
needed
to
make
thoughtful
and
smart
constructive
decisions.
A
For
all
of
these
reasons,
we
have
filed
our
official
right
to
know
requests
to
the
school
district.
In
our
request,
we
have
demanded
13
sets
of
data,
including
indoor,
environmental
quality
data,
school
inspection,
data,
asbestos
information,
lead
in
water
information
door,
sweep
surveys,
maintenance,
work,
orders,
facility,
condition,
data,
drinking
water,
outlet,
information,
lead
paint
and
plaster
data,
asthma,
prevalence,
data
and
energy
use
data,
and
we
have
a
copy
of
the
right
to
know
letter
here
for
attendees
of
the
media.
A
Sadly,
as
we
know,
the
fiasco
at
JB
Kelly
an
elementary
school
and
only
weeks
earlier,
the
massive
mold
outbreak
at
muñoz
marín,
school
with
over
20,000
feet
of
mold,
clearly
highlight
the
need
for
action
and
the
policies
that
the
Philly
Healthy
Schools
Initiative,
originally
called
for
six
months
ago,
at
our
formal
kickoff.
These
policies
that
were
calling
on
city
officials
to
implement
include
number
one
in
improving
the
public's
right
to
know
and
school.
A
District
transparency
number
two
engaging
the
public
parents,
teachers
and
stakeholders
number
three:
establishing
a
public
task
force
for
Philadelphia,
school
facilities,
maintenance
operation,
capital
and
environmental
work,
number
four
stabilizing
all
school
buildings.
By
immediately
identifying
categorizing
prioritizing
and
addressing
urgent
critical
safety
hazards.
A
We
need
to
establish
an
adequate
set
of
building
conditions
that
are
the
bare
minimum
standards
for
a
healthy
learning
environment
in
our
school
buildings.
We
must
improve
communication
and
share
best
practices
between
schools
and
within
the
school
district
of
facilities,
maintenance
operations,
capital,
environmental
and
environment
departments
and
staff.
And
lastly,
of
course
we
must
increase
funding
for
education
systems.
A
We
hope
today's
actions
will
help
ensure
that
we
avert
the
next
potential
environmental
health
risk
at
our
schools.
We
owe
it
to
our
kids
teachers,
principals,
maintenance
workers,
and
we
owe
it
to
the
city's
taxpayers
with
that
I'd
like
to
turn
it
over
to
Dan
from
the
Public
Interest
Law
Center,
say
a
few
words.
C
My
name
is
Daniel
Vega
kolesberg
I'm,
a
staff
attorney
at
the
Public
Interest
Law
Center
every
child
in
this
city
and
in
this
Commonwealth
deserves
to
go
to
adequately
funded
schools
that
fit
their
endless
potential,
and
that
doesn't
just
mean
that
they
have
enough
teachers
or
that
they
have
enough
books.
It
means
that
they
can
breathe
clean
air,
drink,
clean
water
and,
in
general,
be
safe
and
go
to
school
and
healthy
environments
conducive
to
learning.
C
The
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia,
of
course,
did
not
create
the
the
massive
underfunding
of
public
schools
in
the
Commonwealth
of
Pennsylvania.
They
didn't
create
the
irrational
method
by
which
we
fund
public
schools
generally
or
by
which
we
fund
capital
projects
specifically,
but
we
all
have
a
responsibility,
including
the
school
district,
to
ensure
that
kids
are
going
to
school
in
safe
environments.
C
A
Thanks
Stan
next
we're
going
to
have
Jerry
Roseman
with
the
Philly
Federation
of
Teachers
Jerry's,
really
the
eyes
and
ears
for
not
only
our
teachers
in
the
building
but
I
think
for
community
members
as
a
whole.
As
you'll
hear
from
Jerry.
Often
he
has
access
to
school
buildings
and
information
that
the
public
never
has
access
to
and
often
even
City
Council
doesn't
have
access
to,
and
so
we
thought
it
was
important
to
hear
from
Jerry
today,
Jerry
Roseman
with
pft
thank.
D
D
Those
are
documented
and,
and
they
and
that
information
exists
in
the
district.
One
of
the
the
problems
that
we
run
into
is
that
the
information
is
not
properly
and
comprehensively
collected,
evaluated
and
available
to
everybody
for
scrutiny
and
for
analysis,
which
would
push
forward
the
ability
to
fix
what
needs
to
be
fixed.
An
example
is
Kelly,
but
Miu
knows
as
well,
where
the
conditions
were
so
egregious
that
nobody
in
the
building
could
have
failed
to
have
seen
them
and
understood
them,
and
in
fact
they
did
not
fail
to
do
that.
D
So
when
we
walked
in
on
Wednesday
last
week,
there
were
10
rooms
with
black
mold,
visible
and
buckets
collecting
water.
You
can't
fail
to
see
those
kind
of
conditions,
and
they
are,
they
were
long-term.
The
the
conditions
need
to
be
fully
described
and
available.
So
we
can.
We
can
take
the
next
step
that
is
required
and
that
is
to
fix
these
schools.
D
It's
important
to
point
out
that
not
only
is
the
health
of
kids
and
staff
impacted
and
at
a
at
a
school
like
Kelly,
where
we
have
about
twenty
percent
of
the
student
population
having
a
having
asthma.
That
is
listed
the
children
listed
as
having
asthma.
We
we
have
the
situation
that
we
face
in
a
lot
of
our
schools,
where
the
most
vulnerable
populations
are
the
ones
who
are
our
most
suffering
other
than
asthma
and
other
health
impacts.
D
These
conditions
impact
education,
they
impact
attendance,
they
impact
cost
so
at
Kelly
what
might
have
been
a
practical
preventive
kind
of
fix
and
cost
18
months
ago
and
two
years
ago
and
eight
years
ago,
is
now
a
catastrophic
and
enormous
remediation
cost
that
shouldn't
happen,
and
in
fact,
at
at
Kelly
we
weren't
limited
to
just
the
problem
of
mold.
There
was
an
asbestos
issue
at
this
school
as
well,
because
some
of
the
asbestos
materials
were
impacted
by
the
mold.
D
There
is
also
a
ventilation
problem
and
many
others,
so
one
of
one
other
important
element
to
these
these
conditions
are
that
they
do
tend
to
cascade
and
involve
many
other
components
that
that
need
to
be
grabbed
early
and
can
be
grabbed
early.
So
I'm
going
to
stop
here
by
saying
that
the
conditions
that
I
see
on
a
regular
basis,
I
find
to
be
more
and
more
disturbing
and
and
offensive.
D
Actually,
in
in
some
of
these,
these
settings
and
I
think
it's
time
for
there
to
be
a
collaborative
and
cooperative
arrangement
between
policymakers,
district
stakeholders
inside
and
outside
of
schools,
and
that
that
includes
parents
as
well
so
Kelly
I,
think
parents
and
the
full
story
still
has
not
been
publicly
told,
and
that
needs
to
be.
Thank
you.
A
E
Thank
you
David.
My
name
is
councilman
Derek
Greene
and
every
year
me
and
my
16
other
colleagues
vote
on
millions
of
dollars
of
funding
for
the
school
district
and
I
believe
base
on
that
responsibility.
As
an
elected
official
I
have
a
right
to
know
the
condition
of
our
schools.
In
addition,
my
mother
taught
in
the
school
district
for
almost
30
years,
and
she
and
also
a
lot
of
teachers
like
her,
also
have
a
right
to
know
that
they
are
working
in
safe
buildings.
E
Finally,
I
am
the
parent
of
a
public
school
student,
and
so
myself
and
other
parents,
all
around
the
city
of
Philadelphia
within
the
school
district,
have
a
right
to
know
the
condition
of
the
schools.
Would
they
send
their
children
every
day?
I
was
based
on
this
belief
why
I
introduced
a
resolution
had
hearings
last
year
regarding
the
unfortunate
situation
at
I'm
in
school,
where
a
Christmas,
a
member
of
SEIU
32bj,
lost
his
life.
In
addition
is
shortly
after
that
explosion
we
had
the
loc
school.
E
That
was
also
closed,
and
so
that's
why
I
thought
was
important
for
me
to
introduce
a
resolution
because
I
we
have
a
right
to
know
what's
going
on
with
our
school
buildings
and
so
in
May,
when
this
coalition
came
together
between
photographer
narration
and
teachers,
Penn,
environment,
physicians
for
Social,
Responsibility,
Public,
Interest,
Law,
Center
and
other
advocates.
It
was
important
for
me
to
join
this
initiative
because
the
people
and
the
citizens
of
the
city
of
Philadelphia
have
a
right
to
know.
Based
on
the
information
we
need
to
know
about
the
condition
of
our
schools.
E
Shortly
after
that
press
conference
in
May,
the
coalition
met
with
the
school
district
and
were
given
information
we're
supposed
to
receive
information
about
the
condition
of
our
schools,
and
so
now
here
we
are
months
later
still
not
receiving
this
information
still
not
receiving
this
information.
Now
we've
had
the
situation
at
JB
Kelly,
where
the
school
was
closed.
For
a
few
days
prior
to
that
you
had
a
Muniz
prior
to
that
you
had
the
last
school
and
in
prior
to
that
you
had
the
situation
we
had
at
FS
Edmonds,
where
Chris
tracked
miss
lost
his
life.
E
So,
from
my
perspective,
it
was
very
important
for
me
to
sign
onto
this
right
to
no
request
under
my
colleagues.
Councilwoman
helen
Ginn,
counseling
bats
have
also
signed
on
to
this
right
to
no
request,
because
we
all
believe
it's
important
to
have
this
information
for
the
public.
It's
important
for
us,
as
elected
officials,
to
have
the
information
we
need
when
we
vote
on
millions
of
dollars
for
the
school
district.
It's
important
for
teachers
like
my
mother
to
have
this
information
because
they
work
in
school
buildings
every
year.
E
It's
important
for
employees
like
the
late
Chris
traximus
to
have
this
information
because
they
work
in
buildings
every
year
and
it's
important
for
many
parents
like
myself
to
have
this
information
where
their
children
are
going
to
school.
So
that's
why
I
decide
to
sign
onto
this
right
to
know,
request
and
hopefully,
through
this
process,
we'll
get
the
information
that
we
need,
provide
greater
transparency
to
the
citizens
and
city
of
Philadelphia
regarding
our
school
buildings.
A
Great
I
want
to
thank
the
councilman,
and
our
speakers
obviously
you've
seen
why
this
issue
is
so
important.
I'll
just
wrap
up
by
saying
my
son
Owen
is
in
second
grade
at
South
work
in
ninth
and
Mifflin,
and
I
always
joke
with
the
coalition
members
and
elected
officials
in
sort
of
a
dry
way
that
when
my
son
in
his
school
has
a
social
event,
Mardi
Gras
or
another
event,
I'm
gonna
get
a
note
back
about
that
event,
and
my
son
needs
to
bring
cupcakes
or
a
snack
or
dress
in
a
certain
color
or
outfit.
A
If
South
work
has
a
mold
problem,
asbestos
problem
pest
problem
I
do
not
and
will
not
get
a
note.
So
we
have
some
skewed
priorities
that
need
to
be
addressed
here
and
we
think
today's
right-to-know
request
is
the
first
step
to
get
that
information.
But
certainly
this
should
be
accessible
to
the
public
whenever
they
want
it
in
a
format
they
can
understand,
and
we
hope
this
leads
to
that
final
product.
So
thank
you
for
joining
us
today.
We'd
love
to
take
any
questions
at
this
point.
Thank
you.
A
Yeah,
maybe
I'll
say
a
few
words
and
hand
it
to
Jerry.
I
mean
I.
Think
one
of
the
challenges,
sadly,
is
that
they're
they're
you
you
don't
have
that
access
to
information
you
as
a
taxpayer
me
as
a
parent.
This
information
is
kept
close
to
the
vest
by
the
school
district.
As
you
know,
the
school
district
is
not
it's
not
run
by
an
elected
School
Board.
A
It's
run
by
an
unelected
SRC
and
those
are
the
two
entities
that
have
access
into
this
data,
and
so,
if
they
choose
not
to
share
it,
there
aren't
many
avenues
and
and
I
tend
to
think.
Even
the
councilmen
would
agree
that
even
elected
officials
at
the
highest
offices,
we
have
municipal
er
at
the
state
level,
have
a
problem
getting
this
data
and
that's
that
you're
right.
It's
an
egregious
problem
and
one
we're
trying
to
start
to
fix
today.
So
Jerry
that
knows
more
about
the
facility
down
the
councilman
I
think.
E
You
asked
the
right
question:
that's
why
we're
here
and
why
we
had
to
file
this
right,
no
requests
based
on
the
fact
that,
when
this
coalition
met
with
the
school
district
after
our
press
conference
in
May,
we
were
told
an
information
will
be
forthcoming
and
we
didn't
receive
it.
So
that's
why
we
had
to
take
this
more
formal,
stuff,
I'm
making
right
to
no
requests.
I
mean
City
Council
engaged
with
the
school
district
for
a
memorandum
of
understanding
a
little
while
ago,
just
to
get
additional
financial
data.
E
The
question
is:
why
don't
we
have
this
information?
Why
does
the
public
have
this
information,
because
it's
important
not
only
for
City
Council
members
as
well
as
the
mayor,
but
it's
important
for
our
teachers,
our
employees,
that
work
in
a
school
district
and
also
her
parents
like
myself
to
make
sure
that
we're
sending
our
children
to
safe
schools,
I.
E
Have
not
received
that
information.
I
know
the
Coalition
meant.
Surely,
after
we
had
the
press
conference
in
May
and
that
meeting
from
my
understanding
with
a
productive
meeting
and
the
information
was
going
to
be
forthcoming,
we
know
there's
been
some
transitions
in
the
school
district,
but
that
was
in
May
it's
now
October
and
so
we've
gone
from
one
season
to
another
from
spring
to
now
mid
fall.
We
still
don't
have
the
information
and
we've
had
another
school
that
had
the
closed
because
of
an
environmental
situation,
much
like
munoz
much
like
Locke
much
like
Edmonds
I,.
D
Think
that
the
right
to
know
really
leads
to
a
second,
a
second
idea
which
is
right
to
act
and
it's
that
right
to
act.
That
is
part
of
the
reason.
I
think
that
the
district
may
not
make
information
publicly
available
once
this
information
is
is
fully
transparent
and
you
see
what
Kelly
looks
like
or
Locke
looks
like
people
would
react
in
a
much
different
way.
D
So
it's
a
committee
that's
set
up
to
to
evaluate
asthma
triggers
and
to
try
to
prevent
and
help
prevent
and
better
treat
asthma.
It
relies
on
data
about
how
many
kids
have
asthma
in
the
schools
that
data
has
been
restricted
further,
instead
of
more
information
being
made
available.
The
information
previously
being
made
available
is
now
being
truncated,
so
I
think
that
that
as
councilman
Green
is
saying,
this
is
a
critical
time
and
it's
just
the
time
to
make
the
information
open,
accessible
and
and
in
forms
and
formats
that
everybody
can
look
at
and
use.
I.
C
Just
Kristen
I
think
that
one
of
the
things
we
see
when
school
districts
are
underfunded
across
the
state
and
I
think
to
a
certain
extent,
feel
under
siege
and
are
still
trying
to
do
their
best
to
educate
their
children.
I
think
there's
a
little
bit
of
a
mentality
of
defensive,
Mis
and
I.
Think
what
we're
all
trying
to
do
here
is
say
you
mean
to
get
this
information
out
in
the
open
so
that
we
can
work
collaboratively.
A
A
So
so
there's
a
lot
of
outrage
but
I
think
it's
part
of
the
frustration
is
we
have
a
system
that
doesn't
have
a
really
a
democratic,
small,
D,
Democratic
solution
and
so
I
think
you
know
this
is
step
one
to
force
the
school
districts
hand
I,
think
we
need
better
policies.
The
school
excuse
me,
City,
Council
last
year,
took
a
I
think
a
an
important
and
positive
step
by
requiring
the
school
district
to
do
certain.
Take
certain
steps
to
address
lead
and
drinking
water
in
our
school
buildings.
A
Hopefully,
the
City
Council
will
try
and
use
that
same
lever
to
ratchet.
You
know
rein
in
some
of
these
egregious
practices.
But
yes,
there's.
No,
sadly,
there's
not
a
a
good
answer,
but
yes
I
think
if
you
would
have
seen
parents
at
JB
Kelly,
you
would
have
seen
the
level
of
outrage
of
that.
Understandably
comes
with
this
out.
B
D
Can
answer
that,
but
I
want
to
say
this
this
thing
about
about
mold
and
L&I.
We
don't
have
regulations
for
a
lot
of
this
stuff
and
we
don't
have
them
for
that.
L
and
I
couldn't
enforce
anything
if
they
wanted
to
in
that
regard,
and
actually
the
lead
in
drinking
water
example
is
is
interesting
because
it's
similar
that's
why
it
takes
this
kind
of
action,
I
think,
but
there
are
no
regulations,
the
the
christen.
What
happened
at
the
school
was,
after
the
these
ten
rooms
were
found.
Further
investigation
was
done.
D
What
was
found
where
the
air
handling
systems
were
essentially
off
throughout
the
entire
building
the
and
they
were
filthy
and
corroded
piping
is
compromised
throughout
the
building.
There's
asbestos
that
is
in
this
building
and
it's
been
known
for
a
long
time-
that's
sprayed
onto
ceilings
and
some
of
that
got
over
sprayed
onto
pipes,
pipe
insulation
that
then
was
moldy,
so
it
caused
an
asbestos
issue
as
well.
So
there
was
asbestos
abatement
done.
D
The
the
mold
was
remediated
from
the
building.
The
asbestos
issues
were
taken
care
of
from
the
building
on
our
recommendation
and
work
with
the
district.
We
required.
All
of
the
ventilation
components
to
be
operating
to
be
clean
to
have
filters
and
that
that
also
happened
and
I
hide
that
the
day
before
on
on
Tuesday
before
school,
open,
Wednesday
I
had
been
asked
to
come
in
on
Friday
on
Saturday,
on
Sunday
and
Monday
for
the
same
verification.
But
each
time
additional
work
was
needed
as
we
ended.
The
the
these
basic
activities
were
done.
D
There
is
significant
ongoing
work
that
is
needed
primarily
with
the
ventilation
system
to
monitor
the
mold,
does
not
return
in
the
conditions
that
led
to
it
do
not
return
and
to
address
to
make
sure
that
the
asbestos
stays
intact,
and
this
has
been
at
the
school
for
a
long
time.
So
there
is
a
lot
of
work
going
forward
that
is
needed.
E
And
just
a
close
I
think
the
question
about
oversight
and
very
important.
It's
the
fall
of
2017.
We
make
a
request
to
L&I
about
what's
their
role
enforcement,
whether
we
go
into
the
spring
into
the
budget
season.
That's
when
we
have
opportunity
to
ask
those
additional
questions
to
Alan
I
and
when
Jerry
talked
about
regulations,
they
need
it
as
something
that
accounts
can
look
at
and
see
what
power
we
have
to
address
that
issue,
especially
from
an
Illinois
enforcement
perspective.