Dozens Of South Plantation High Students Walk Out Over Mold, Air Quality Concerns

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - A couple dozen students walked out of class at South Plantation High School on Friday to protest what they see as air quality issues.

"Today we are walking out due to the high levels of mold and carbon dioxide in our school. They've known about these for years and have done nothing about it until the walkout started," said 10th grader Chloe DiLaura.

DiLaura, who organized the protest, said some students have told her they have health concerns.

"We spend four years of our lives in this school, every day except for weekends. Our health does matter. Whether it's little headaches or respiratory problems, it's a big problem in total," 10th grader Melenia Delgado.

The school held a question and answer session Thursday. School administrators sent a voicemail to parents.

Principal Christine Henschel also sent an email to parents and students in which she explained that the air quality was "very acceptable." She also addressed the mold in the school.

"Although we have had three reports of active mold growth on campus this past school year, the district and school-based staff worked in alignment with EPA protocols to investigate and remedy all three occurrences immediately," she wrote.

One student who had permission to leave campus said she is not concerned.

"In the Q and A they described to us in multiple ways what they're doing to make sure mold isn't happening, what they're doing to make sure it is safe. But this school is old, dust does accumulate," said Christina Shaw.

The school district released a statement saying it is monitoring air quality in one building.  The spokesperson said the district has already taken proactive measures and plans to take more steps over the next two weeks to improve air quality.