Asbestos in Schools

In ILLINOIS, the asbestos plaguing the interior of Northview School in the Peru School District was scheduled for removal during the summer of 2009. Then renovations will convert the school into an early learning center for students in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade.

Washington school was also scheduled for renovations and asbestos removal for the summer of 2009. The school board for the North Central Illinois district approved $163,000 in funds to remove asbestos from Northview School and an additional $27,000 for work at Washington School.

In TRAVERSE CITY, MN, the Ida M. Tompkins Boardman Administration Center for Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) has become a dead weight for the district, but problems with selling the building outright arose.

As the district scoured for ways to prune $2.1 million from its 2009-2010 budget, the TCAPS administration building was caught in the cross hairs. Selling it and moving the administration offices to the former Sabin Elementary in Garfield Township would save an annual $75,000 in upkeep and utilities. The downside to this plan was the initial conversion costs to ready the former Sabin Elementary classrooms for the new offices. There is also the problem of what to do with the Boardman Administration Building. It would need to be brought up to code before selling, and that would mean repairs to the leaky roof and abatement of the asbestos surrounding the plumbing that would become exposed during renovations.

To convert the former Sabin Elementary into a new administration building would cost the district $1.5 million, but much of that could be offset by the selling price of the Boardman building, which was hoped by TCAPS officials to be on the market in April 2009.

In MORGANTON, NC, $2 million was approved by the school board for new science labs at two Burke County high schools and renovations including asbestos removal.

Freedom and East Burke High Schools were awarded funds to bring their science labs up to 21st-century technology. The work was expected to be finished by the Spring 2010 semester for the students’ use. The project will consolidate all of the science classrooms at the high schools into clusters, known as pods. These would be able to take advantage of shared computer, gas, and electrical equipment within the walls. Plans also allowed for a future computer lab for science classes to be constructed in the future.

District officials were aware of the presence of asbestos that would have to be removed before renovations began, but they did not know how much was present, and they could not estimate the time or monetary toll it would take to properly remove and dispose of it. The asbestos work was hoped to be finished over the summer before the students return to classes in the fall, to prevent putting them into any danger from inhaling that known carcinogen.

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