Coachella Valley Mom's Viral TikTok Sparks Questions About School District’s Response

A Coachella Valley mother's social media post about mold in her son's classroom has ignited concerns about how quickly the Coachella Valley Unified School District responded to the health hazard—and whether parents received accurate information about what happened.

Loretta Perez discovered mold in her autistic son's classroom at John Kelley Elementary School and took to TikTok last week to express frustration with district officials. Her video quickly went viral, drawing attention to what she describes as a troubling lack of transparency and delayed action after the contamination was identified.

What Parents Were Told vs. What Reports Show

The timeline of events has become a point of contention. According to an email Perez received from Baker Alloush, the district's Director of Maintenance and Operations, mold was first reported on November 18 after water damage was discovered in the classroom. The email stated that samples were collected by a mold specialist on November 24.

However, the district's own limited contamination assessment report indicates samples were actually collected on November 19—five days earlier than what parents were told. Adding to the confusion, parents didn't receive any notification about the mold until December 2, weeks after the initial discovery.

Health Concerns and Communication Breakdown

Perez says her son experienced persistent breathing problems while attending class in the contaminated room. "My child personally had breathing issues, and I thought it was allergies," she explained. "Since he's been out of the classroom, no congestion, no sneezing, no coughing, completely fine for months. Months, I thought it was allergies."

Perez says she attempted multiple times to reach Superintendent Frances Esparza but says those efforts were unsuccessful. "Transparency is not a thing in this district," Perez said. "The district isn't thinking of these kids."

District Response

The Coachella Valley Unified School District has acknowledged the mold issue and published a remediation report from the inspection. District officials confirm that mold was identified and that students were removed from the classroom, though Perez disputes that the removal happened promptly after discovery.

Perez has scheduled a meeting with district officials today to address the inconsistencies in the information provided to parents and to discuss steps to ensure student safety going forward.

Our NBC Palm Springs Morning Reporter, Alondra Campos, will sit down with Perez and have more details later today during our Midday broadcast, so stay tuned for that.