May Whitney Elementary School Gets Clean Bill of Health

It has been business as usual at May Whitney Elementary School since an asbestos scare caused Community Unit School District 95 officials to close its doors and cancel classes on Feb. 8.

“We are back in the swing of things,” said Lettie Ekovich, May Whitney Elementary principal. “The parents have been so supportive, helping the kids step right back into things.”

The blizzard on Feb. 1 and 2 caused a transformer to short out, leaving May Whitney without power for 24 hours. The cold temperatures caused univents and coils to freeze. Once they thawed out after generators restored power, they burst. Univents and coils bring fresh air and heat to classrooms throughout the school.

“The condensation from the pipes thawing out and coils that burst in the univents, caused water the damage,” said Jean Malek, director of communications and community relations.

The majority of the water damage was found in the early childhood education classrooms, located on the northeast end of the building, along with the entrance to the library, a computer power room, and a reading room in the library where the asbestos was improperly removed.

“Ceiling tiles, books, bulletin boards, carpeting, and toys were water damaged,” explained Ekovich.

Classes for only the early childhood education program were cancelled on Friday, Feb. 4 so restoration and repairs could be made. On Feb. 4 and during the weekend the early childhood education staff, facilities staff, Ekovich, and Universal Restoration worked to restore classrooms.

District 95’s insurance company, Gallagher Bassett hired Universal Restoration to remove materials and items that were water damaged, according to Malek.

On Saturday, Feb. 5, “while removing the wet carpeting (in the reading room in the library), around three to five tiles were pulled up along with it by Universal Restoration,” said Malek. “The district wasn’t informed until Monday evening (Feb. 6).”

The tiles and mastic that were pulled up with the carpeting contained asbestos.

“Proper guidelines were not followed during removal and disposal of asbestos-containing materials,” said Egan.

District 95 made the decision to cancel classes for the following day, Feb. 7 and contacted a licensed asbestos consultant to “perform air quality testing in the building as a conservative measure to ensure our students’ safety,” said Michael J. Egan, superintendent, District 95.

Results came back, “no asbestos structures were detected,” according to a report from Asbestos Inspection & Management Inc.

Parents were informed via e-mail and through the district website that school would resume the next day, Wednesday, Feb. 9.

“They (Universal Restoration) did not follow their own protocol and should have stopped when they saw the tiles coming up with the carpeting,” said Malek. “Universal Restoration is not a remediation company.”

A community member contacted the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), which sent out Bill Johnson, inspector of environmental health, to come out on Feb. 9, according to Malek.

“He was not concerned that there was exposure because the carpeting was wet, not allowing the asbestos fibers to become airborne,” explained Malek.

Malek, Egan, Skip Lubenow, director of facilities, and Universal Restoration were present for Johnson’s inspection.

“He’s an expert, so his statement validated that no harm was done,” said Malek.

According to Kelly Johnson, spokesperson for IDPH, “Our investigation is ongoing, but we wouldn’t allow the school to operate if we felt there was harm to the building occupants.”

District 95 had filed an incident report and Universal Restoration is responsible for the costs associated with the asbestos testing.

Damages caused by the blizzard are estimated at $100,000. District 95 is only responsible for paying the $1,500 deductible.

The water damaged classrooms, entrance to the library, computer power room, library reading room, and a portion of the gym floor have been restored.

“It was a collective effort from Skip, Dr. Egan, and the early childhood staff, coming together and working hard to get the classrooms back to where they were,” said Ekovich.