Bethel, CT – Officials at Bethel High School allowed students to go home early on Wednesday after it was reported that asbestos exposure was a threat at the school.
Workers who were doing renovation work had accidentally opened a wall cavity and asbestos-containing fireproofing material was exposed.
Eagle Environmental, the town’s environmental consultant, was called to the school to conduct tests of the air samples once all students were gone from the building. The school’s superintendent, Gary Chesley, sent letters to the parents and guardians of the students to notify them of the situation.
Once results of the test came back, Eagle Environmental told school officials that the tests showed that the levels of asbestos were almost non-existent and posed no health risk to anyone in the building. Accordingly, Chesley said that school will be open the next day.
The asbestos was first discovered around noon when workers who were in the process of installing electrical material inadvertently tore open a piece of drywall and found the fireproofing material. It happened on the second floor of the school in an area where students normally do not pass by.
Chesley said that while it was a scary and stressful situation for school officials, students were excited to get the news that they would be released from school early that day.
