Asbestos dust
shuts building
at King School

Students and faculty have been evacuated from a four-classroom building at King Intermediate School in Kaneohe after asbestos was disturbed during renovations while classes were in session.

The dust was kicked up two weeks ago as workers were sanding and scraping the outside of Building I in preparation for painting, according to Lea Albert, complex-area superintendent for the Castle-Kahuku area.

The school's management plan had no indication of asbestos in the paint, so classes continued in the two-story, cinder-block building while work was going on outside, she said. Faculty members were simply asked to keep windows and doors closed.

But after staff raised concerns over the dust, tests were conducted that revealed asbestos, apparently from the plaster under the paint, Albert said yesterday. Classrooms were evacuated Nov. 12.

A letter went home with students yesterday announcing that asbestos had been detected. The building will be properly cleaned, sealed with a primer and repainted, and air quality will be monitored before students are allowed to return, the letter said.

"We wish to assure you that the school cares deeply for both students and employees and is taking every precaution to ensure a safe campus at King Intermediate," Albert and Principal Cynthia Chun wrote in the letter.

Chun and Randall Higa, the Department of Education's asbestos program manager, could not be reached for comment late yesterday.

King Intermediate, which has about 900 students, has been undergoing renovations for more than a year. The work is being handled by a private contractor, 57 Builders Ltd.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring substance, but inhaling its tiny fibers can cause cancer, usually as a result of repeated exposure over time.

The Environmental Protection Agency requires schools to have "asbestos management plans" indicating the presence of asbestos and steps taken to manage it.