By Jennifer Hoegg
It was a short week of school for 224 Kings County students.
Primary to Grade 6 students at Cambridge and District School were dismissed at lunchtime Sept. 13 after asbestos was disturbed in the school’s walls.
Maintenance workers were patching a damaged wall when insulation containing asbestos was found, Annapolis Valley Regional School Board superintendent Margo Tait said Friday.
“Air testing (Sept. 13) came back clean,” Tait said. “And, after the asbestos is removed today, it will be tested again.”
Asbestos is dangerous only when fibres are airborne and people inhale them, a statement from Tait’s office said.
“If left undisturbed and behind a wall, it does not pose a hazard,” the release stated.
Students were home Friday and staff worked from the board’s regional office in Berwick.
“We’re hoping we’ll be back in business on Monday,” the superintendent said.
“There will be a protocol in place” for future maintenance in the 52-year-old building, she added.
“If there is damage to a wall, it will be priority and we’ll keep a close eye on (the issue.)”
Tait said further information would be distributed to parents Sept. 17.
This is the third time asbestos has been a problem at the school, she confirmed. Abatement work was done in 2000 when asbestos was discovered in the gym ceiling during renovations, director of operations David Floyd said Sept. 14, and during the 1980s.
Cambridge was placed on the board’s priority list for replacement last spring.
