Air quality test results OK, Lake Zurich school reopens

May Whitney Elementary School in Lake Zurich is scheduled to reopen Wednesday after air quality tests showed there are no dangers posed by asbestos that may have been disturbed by carpeting removal over the weekend, officials said.

Lake Zurich Unit District 95 officials closed the school to all students and staff Tuesday. Officials received the air quality test results later in the day, which spokeswoman Jean Malek said showed no presence of asbestos in the building previously known as the Annex.

About 530 students in prekindergarten through fifth grade will return to classes Wednesday. Malek said the pupils won’t be required to make up the lost school day.

District 95 Superintendent Michael Egan said in a statement that officials Monday evening became aware some glue and tile containing asbestos may have been disturbed while wet carpeting was being removed as part of a post-blizzard cleanup. He said Tuesday’s closure was precautionary, and an asbestos consultant did not believe there was cause for concern before the air quality test results were known.

“We were very much being on the conservative side by keeping the kids out,” Malek said.

Egan also issued a timeline showing a ComEd transformer shorted out and caused the building on Church Street to lose heat Tuesday, Feb. 1. He said generators were brought in the following day to gradually warm the building after it had been without heat for 24 hours.

Ruptured pipes led to water damage in some rooms Thursday, Feb. 3. Other problems cited by Egan included snow blowing through open gymnasium windows, causing water damage to a portion of the floor near the bleachers.

Carpeting removal and replacement began Saturday. Egan reported that District 95 facilities personnel on Monday became aware that carpet replacement in one room was over asbestos-containing tile and glue, which was not identified during previous restoration work.

Proper guidelines were not followed during the removal and disposal of materials containing asbestos, according to Egan.

What’s known as the old May Whitney school building was abandoned in August 2007 when stachybotrys — a toxic strain of mold — and asbestos were discovered after a flood. Students were moved into the Annex, a separate building connected to old May Whitney by an enclosed passageway that did not flood.

District 95 is using the closed building for storage.

Some parents have raised concerns about cross-contamination between the two buildings through maintenance doors or by items being moved in and out of storage. District officials said the doors were sealed off and the Illinois Department of Public Health didn’t consider the threat of contamination to be an issue.

It would cost at least $750,000 to tear down the old May Whitney, according to District 95.