Asbestos Plagued School Reopens
An unscheduled vacation has ended for students at the North Kossuth Elementary School in Bancroft, Iowa after their school was closed for a week due to asbestos concerns.
According to a story aired by KIMT-TV, the most recent tests of the school’s air quality found no more traces of asbestos after initial findings showed that there were indeed asbestos particles in the air.
Nevertheless, parents and staff were still worried about exposure and raised concerns during a meeting on Monday night. Asbestos experts were on hand to answer their questions and allay their fears.
“So you checked the same areas of the building that you checked before?” asked one parent.
“We have a clean environment over there; its healthy, I’m not gonna make it worse than what it is, I would not put your kids in a bad situation,” answered North Kossuth Superintendent Mike Landstrum.
“If they’re comfortable enough with the results that they would send their own child, then that’s comfortable enough for me,” said Ed Spencer, who has two children at the aging school, which was built in 1962, more than 15 years before asbestos regulations were issued by the government.
Iowa state laws as well as federal mandates require the asbestos to be removed from schools. However, North Kossuth Elementary School falls under different rules because it’s leased from nearby St John’s Catholic School, administrators explained.
