Sound Off: Should Malibu Mom Be Charged for Testing Classrooms for Carcinogens?

As the community awaits the results of an investigation into whether a Malibu parent committed felony trespassing and vandalism for taking samples of classroom materials to test for hazardous chemicals, the school district continues to face pressure for asking the sheriff’s department to investigate the matter.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District this month asked the sheriff’s department to investigate the actions of a parent who took samples of window caulk from various classrooms that were tested to show high levels of cancer-causing chemicals.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will ultimately submit the results of the investigation to the District Attorney’s Office to determine if any charges are warranted.

However, two school board members immediately fired off emails to Superintendent Sandra Lyons, asking that the criminal probe be dropped. Craig Foster, the school board’s lone member from Malibu, and Oscar de la Torre of Santa Monica asked that the deputies be called off the case, immediately.

Parent Jennifer deNicola and others went into classrooms at Malibu High School, and the adjacent Juan Cabrillo Elementary School, in 2014 and took samples of window caulk, according to parent activists. Like many buildings where glass was installed in the 1960s, the caulk was formulated with large amounts of polychlorinated biphenyl, a plastic-like putty that later was recognized as a significant cancer threat.

The parents had become alarmed when three teachers reported getting thyroid cancer, and blamed “sick building syndrome” at the aging schools near Zuma Beach. Subsequent tests by the district found small amounts of PCBs, but the tests by parents showed much-higher levels.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.