May 9th, 2006

A Liberty high school has been fined nearly $15,000 and been served with a number of citations by OSHA for mold and asbestos exposure at the school. In total 13 citations have been issued against the school by OSHA.

Earlier in the year an English teacher and her students were moved out of one area of the Brentwood campus after the presence of the hazardous substances was revealed. The teacher was suffering health problems and had samples tested to confirm the presence of toxic substances.

The teacher, Tanya Smith, filed her complaint with OSHA, and stated: "I'm torn because it has been painful to go public with our problems as a school. It has cost me some respect from teachers at our school." Her complaint prompted an investigation.

With regards to the citations, an OSHA spokesperson stated: "Most of these citations are classified as serious, which indicates that they are a violation that can lead to serious physical harm to an employee, but they are low-level penalties on the serious side."