Asbestos in Schools

In GILBERT, AZ, five Valley charter schools and the Edu-Prize charter school were all fined for violations regarding adhering to rules to reduce asbestos exposure dangers to students and staff. The schools reportedly did not test the schools for asbestos prior to opening for the school year. Against EPA regulations, the schools also did not have asbestos management plans created.

Fines imposed on the schools ranged between $800 and $2,400. The schools which paid the fines were: Edu-Prize, Valley Academy, Horizon Community Learning Center, Paradise Education Center, Challenge School, and Happy Valley School.

The schools have now corrected their violations, had the schools inspected, and did not find any asbestos present in any of the buildings.

In MUNALL, PENNSYLVANIA, students from Park Elementary can look forward to returning to their school in the near future. The task of repairing the roof of the school and removing the asbestos in it is nearly half way finished.

Since September 17th, students and teachers have been sharing the Barrett Elementary campus by Park students using the school in the afternoon and Barrett students using it in the mornings. The repair work began on September 24th and was half way completed five days later.

The district is also pleased to learn that it can save money on the cost of the asbestos abatement. Initially, the same roofing company that would repair the roof, Phoenix Roofing, would undertake the job of removing the asbestos, but the cost of the project would have been $68,909. After hearing the quote from Phoenix Roofing, the district was reminded that it was required to solicit three different bids. As a result of the bidding, the district will now be able to save $11,000 on the asbestos abatement.

To compete with the other companies in the bidding process, Phoenix Roofing lowered its quote to

$48,989, which was the lowest of the three bids. The company was then approved by the school board to proceed with the roofing and asbestos work.

The Vice President for Phoenix Roofing said that he anticipates work to be completed in 12 working days, but since this will also include weekends, the final price will be slightly more than the $48,989 of the bid due to the higher pay rate given workers on weekends.

Phoenix Roofing will remove the asbestos and then put a new roof on the building.

In NILES, ILLINOIS, on October 1st, 2008, members of the East Maine School District 63 board approved measures to be taken for asbestos abatement beneath the damaged first floor carpeting of Gemini Junior High. After the four-week process to remove the asbestos, the students should be able to return to classes at the Gemini campus by November 10th.

During September 2008 floods, Gemini had to close, but after the floodwaters receded, asbestos was discovered in the glue holding down the carpeting. The school has remained closed to students since the discovery.

Costs to remove the asbestos are estimated at $259,000. The high price for the project is due to the nature of the asbestos contamination. Some of the funding for the project could come from the district’s contingency fund; the remainder is hoped to be offset by the federal government, which could pay for some of it if Cook county is declared a disaster area from the flooding.

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