Kensington High asbestos closure: Philly teachers claim poor oversight

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Philadelphia’s teachers union is accusing the school district of poor oversight of an HVAC renovation project at Kensington High School that will force over 400 students to relocate for the first half of the school year.

A contractor not authorized to safely remove asbestos disturbed the cancer-causing fibers in multiple places throughout the Kensington High School building this summer, Arthur Steinberg, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president, and the union’s director of environmental science, Jerry Roseman, told reporters Monday.

The district initially discovered the issue July 13 and planned to bring staff back into the building on Aug. 17, Steinberg said. But it became clear the district would not be able to resolve the issue in time, he said. The district announced to the Kensington High School community last week that students would relocate to the former Austin Meehan Middle School building.

Steinberg said the teachers union thought the reopening timeline was “unrealistic all along,” and said if the district had told students and teachers they’d need to relocate sooner, they would have had more time to plan.

“[Teachers are] angry at what they feel was a lack of proper communication,” he said. “They wouldn’t have to scramble like they do now.”

The district suspects that a third-party contractor improperly removed asbestos-containing material during a demolition phase of an HVAC upgrade project, said district spokesperson Naima DeBrest in a written statement Monday evening. She said the situation was different than past instances of school closures due to asbestos damage.

“The District immediately and transparently prioritized the health and safety of workers and stopped the project to assess the scope of the potential lapses,” DeBrest wrote. “The subcontractor was removed from the job and has no other work with the District.”

Deputy Superintendent of Operations Oz Hill wrote in a letter to the Kensington High School community Thursday that the installation of a new HVAC system at the school was stopped after an asbestos inspector “identified a concern about demolishing the old system.” He said that students would remain at Meehan until January.

“We know this is disappointing news, but the health and safety of our students, staff, and workers is our first priority,” he wrote.