Public to pay asbestos testing?

"This would bring us much peace of mind," she said of the proposal, which was made to the Board of Education during its regular meeting Wedneday night.
She said that Mark Granville of Brooks Laboratories in Norwalk, the district's asbestos management consultant, has told her he would be willing to conduct the tests.
High levels of asbestos in the schools were first determined in the summer 2000. During the final weeks of the 2001-02 academic year all four public schools were closed after tests indicated asbestos contamination.
After contractors cleaned the buildings during the summer, they reopened for the 2002-03 academic year and the district began monitoring random classrooms at least once every two months.
"I don't know what any more testing is going to tell us at this point," board Chairman Matthew Grimes said in an interview after the meeting.
"We have had a very aggressive testing program," he added.
Mr. Granville, who is a consultant to several other school districts, has said that Brookfield's program was more thorough than any that he has seen.
However, some residents have expressed concern that the source of the high readings in a section of the new wing at WMS were never determined.
"That's been a frustrating concern of mine from day one," Mr. Grimes said.
Superintendent John Goetz said this summer that Mr. Granville has told him that "asbestos is found in our environment, and the source in the classrooms could be any of a number of things.
"It could have been brought in by people," he added.
The board discontinued the periodic tests this summer. Some members have said they were not necessary since the results of a vast majority of the rooms tested over the last two years were below the district's detection limit.
They also have said that the district has established an excellent cleaning program. They have noted that additional custodians have been hired and all of the maintenance staff members have been trained in asbestos cleaning. The district also has purchased several state-of-the-art vacuums.
Ms. Rossland-Hulce said she appreciated that, in part, the board opted not to continue to periodic testing this year because it had received a smaller budget increase for the fiscal year that started in July.
She said she did "not want to be adversarial" with the board but added that "you can't put a price on our children's safety."
"I don't know that there's a need for testing," said Mr. Grimes, who indicated that the board's Business & Finance Subcommittee would likely consider Ms. Rossland-Hulce's proposal at its meeting next week.
He said the Facilities Subcommittee might discuss it at its meeting next month.
"If we thought we needed it, we would have done it despite the budget woes this year," the chairman added regarding the periodic tests.
Mr. Grimes said that even though residents are offering to pay for the testing, there could be long-term costs for the district associated with it.
He said that, for example, the school district declined a proposed donation of photocopying machines last year because of costs associated with their maintenance.

©The Brookfield Journal 2004