CLEVELAND, Ohio — Several families have filed a lawsuit against the Cleveland Metropolitan School District alleging that unaddressed mold at Newton D. Baker School of Arts endangered their children’s health.
The complaint, filed Monday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, says that since at least spring 2020, the West Side school’s leaky roof, poor building maintenance and inadequate remediation of water damage and mold growth, have led to health issues and the school’s closure.
Janice Edwards, a spokesperson for the school district, said the filing has been forwarded to legal counsel for review. “We will respond to it at an appropriate time,” she said in an email.
Edwards said the school board voted in April to close the school due to a progressively leaking roof.
According to the lawsuit, flooding from heavy rain in early 2025 made the problem impossible to ignore, with photographs showing large trash bins catching water in hallways, stained ceiling tiles and visible mold throughout the school.
The five families, represented by the Bressman Law firm, say their children experienced physical harm due to mold exposure, including headaches, flu-like symptoms, and sinus infections.
“Allowing mold to grow unchecked in a public school is not just careless,” plaintiffs’ attorney Jedidiah Bressman said in a news release. “It is a threat to the community’s most basic right — safe spaces for children to learn and thrive.”
The lawsuit says that the school district knew about the water leak issues for years. According to the filing, the district failed to properly investigate and treat mold growth.
Although the district sent roofers to repair leaks, it “failed to take the appropriate remedial and proactive measures to prevent mold toxicity from harming Newton Baker’s teachers, staff, and students,” according to the filing.
The district hired environmental consultants to conduct air and surface quality tests in late March and early April 2025, according to the filing. The results showed elevated levels of black mold in the cafeteria and a second-floor classroom, according to the lawsuit.
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