Eastern Pulaski School Board Acknowledges Asbestos Removal

 Renovations to the High School/Middle School building and Elementary School Building were discussed at length during the Eastern Pulaski School Board meeting Monday evening. It should come as no surprise that the removal of asbestos within the buildings came up. During their meeting the board unanimously approved the proposal for asbestos removal.

Superintendent Dan Foster said they are not as worried about the Elementary school containing much asbestos because it isn’t as dated as the other building. Foster also announced that the business that will handle the removal is called Air Company and they have already abated a few of the classrooms containing asbestos.

Foster said that these projects will be quite time consuming projects that can take anywhere from 16 to 17 months to complete . The clerk of works for the project Steve Garlits agreed and commented on the cost, stating once a classroom tests positive for asbestos there is much work to be done, “In the older part of the building, almost all of the floors are asbestos tile and the adhesive that holds the tile down in asbestos as well. That’s actually probably the most expensive proposition. Popping the tile off is not that hard to do, it’s the process they go through to get the asbestos adhesive off the floor, which is a chemical process.”

Superintendent Foster proposed that collectively both projects should be completed by late September or mid-October of 2016. Until then students and faculty will need to practice patients as classrooms become available after renovations are completed. As far as the presence of asbestos within the buildings, Foster says there is currently no cause for concern regarding any health hazard.