Environmental tests of all 14 schools in the district turned up minor problems with molds, which were quickly corrected, and with the ventilation systems in some of the temporary classrooms, which were also corrected, but nothing was discovered that should've caused anyone a real health problem. According to Adina Neale, the district's new IAQ coordinator who is also a teacher at Rio Vista Elementary, the health department found the doctor's techniques deficient and his results meaningless. Nonetheless, the district had learned its lesson from the controversy. It was now IAQ aware and soon to be IAQ savvy, thanks to help from the Environmental Protection Agency and its Tools for Schools program. With IAQ Coordinators, who are also teachers, in place at each of the district's 14 schools, Ms. Neale, as the district coordinator, is training the IAQ team to carry out detailed inspections to look for mold, ventilation and other problems.
Report forms then enable the coordinators to have any problems remedied as quickly as possible.
On a routine basis, the district as a whole now performs preventative maintenance on its HVAC system on a more frequent basis, cleaning units and replacing filters every other month. The IAQ program has been so successful that the Saugus Union School District was chosen for the EPA's Award of Excellence as representative of the best in the Ninth EPA Region.