Mesothelioma Articles

Asbestos is found in classroom

School to stay shut all week during cleanup

March 29, 2004, 6:40 PM EST

Source: NYS School Report Cards and Newsday

By Nedra Rhone

Hempstead High School will be closed for the week because exposed asbestos was found in one classroom and could become a problem in 50 more, said district officials.

District and school officials, who met late into the evening yesterday to update staff on the concerns, said Tuesday that the school would need to remain closed all week to allow for proper cleanup. It was unclear where they would move the more than 1,700 high school students while the school is shut.

Engineering consultants who have been working since Friday evening to remedy the problem said the asbestos was not airborne and that no one had been exposed to the substance. Still, the district took the unusual measure of closing the building for what they called "preventative and precautionary" actions. Only after final air testing is performed will the district reopen the school, said district spokesman Don Miller.

Letter to parents

Parents were initially informed in a Friday letter that exposed asbestos was found in one classroom when a blackboard fell from the wall on Wednesday night. The letter also said that the district planned to have the cleanup completed yesterday.

"I'm overwhelmed by this," said Beatriz Braxton, the mother of a 10th-grader and two middle school students.

Braxton said that there had also been problems last week at the middle school related to carbon monoxide.

"I'm worried about both [schools] now. My children are in there and I can't sleep at night."

Braxton said the letter from Deputy Superintendent Dianne Brown stated that white powder and glue particles were found on the floor of room A214 after the blackboard fell. Samples of the substances, taken by ECG Inc. of Smithtown, the district's environmental engineering consultant, tested positive for asbestos, Miller said.

The room was unoccupied at the time, about 6:30 on Wednesday evening, and was immediately quarantined. Consultants later began checking the rest of the building for problems.

They found blackboards in 51 classrooms were loose. District officials said last night no exposed asbestos was found in the other classrooms and that the consultants have begun to seal and secure the boards as a precaution.

Asbestos hazards

Members of the Hempstead School Board of Education and Superintendent Nathaniel Clay, who were attending the National School Board Association's annual conference in Orlando, Fla., met at their hotel to get updates on the removal of the asbestos and to request a sweep of the entire building, said Thomas Parsley Jr., first vice president of the school board.

"Each report got worse," said Parsley. "We have responded very quickly to handle this."

Undisturbed asbestos may pose no health hazard according to experts, but as time passes and the substance crumbles or is loosened, the fibers may become airborne and be inhaled. Diseases caused by asbestos inhalation such as Mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, may take years to develop, so efforts have been made to prevent exposure in school-age children.

In 1986, the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act required public and private nonprofit schools to inspect their buildings for asbestos-containing materials.

Not the first time

Hempstead High School had previous problems with asbestos in 1990. That year, the school was closed for three months after a $1.9-million project to remove 68,000 square feet of asbestos from the ceilings of Building A, the main building, was allegedly botched.

Chunks of asbestos, up to two centimeters in size, were lodged in closets, nooks and crannies around the school. The district had awarded the bulk of the contract to a firm that was being sued by the federal government for failing to report asbestos removal projects in 25 New York City public schools.

The classroom where the exposed asbestos was initially found last week also was located in Building A, but district officials said yesterday that without further studies, they could not speculate on whether the current problem was related to the school's past asbestos crisis.

Hempstead High School

Current enrollment: 1,762

Current faculty and other professional staff: 142

July 24, 1970: A suspicious fire guts Hempstead High School, then located at Greenwich Street and Peninsula Boulevard.

1971: A $12-million high school, under construction when the fire struck, opens on President Street and Peninsula Boulevard.

August 31, 1990: A major asbestos removal project at the high school is completed, but the school reopens 12 days late to allow time for clean-up.

Oct. 7, 1990: After a professional test commissioned by parents shows continued asbestos hazards in classrooms, the school board votes to shut down the school.

Jan. 14, 1991: The high school reopens to students, who were forced into split sessions at the middle school, after more work on asbestos removal.

March 28, 2004: School district shuts down the high school for at least a day, possibly longer, after pieces of asbestos are discovered when a blackboard falls off a wall.

MIRG.org 1-888-802-6376 e-mail

www.MIRG.org • Site Map • About Us • Contact Us • Links • Disclaimer