NEW ORLEANS -- Einstein Charter School, a New Orleans East school that had reportedly tested positive for asbestos was closed as officials try to figure out the next steps.
A statement from the Recovery School District said, "Preliminary air testing results show zero presence of asbestos in the air, indicating that the building is and has been safe...The inspector shared, 'no asbestos structures detected in air sampling." The report showing that there is no asbestos in the air should serve as a comfort to the students and families of Village de L'Est."
But the school district did find there were also 15 positive samples found below the ceiling grid in places inaccessible to children and adults, according to the RSD.
"Despite knowing that there is no asbestos in the air and knowing that the samples found are mostly inaccessible, the RSD, out of an abundance of caution, will immediately begin working on a clean-up plan in coordination with the DEQ to ensure that all appropriate steps are taken to further protect students and teachers," said the RSD.
The school remains closed and a plan for students will be announced later today.
John Trueblood's daughter is in the first grade at Einstein Charter School Village De l'Est campus.
"She's been an honor roll student since she's been there," Trueblood said.
The head of the Recovery School District closed the school Tuesday morning after receiving a letter from the Department of Environmental Quality saying the school tested positive for asbestos.
Greg Langley with the Department of Environmental Quality said anytime asbestos is present in a building, it is a problem.
"There's like six different kinds of it, and the particular asbestos we're talking about here was in some ceiling tile," Langley said.
The DEQ said they got an anonymous tip in late April saying that the company Dynamic Constructor, who was doing renovations on the building, didn't properly dispose of those ceiling tiles.
The RSD explained the ceiling tiles that may have been contaminated with asbestos were removed while school was not in session. Tuesday afternoon, RSD sent WWL-TV a statement saying an air quality test was performed after the removal and the school was deemed safe to return.
After a secondary set of testing, 13 places in the school tested positive for asbestos.
Dr. Kyle Happel with LSU Health Sciences Center said while the effects of asbestos exposure can be severe, the symptoms won't show for 20 to 30 years and are very rare.
"The problem becomes when someone goes into a building and they renovate it or there's been a physical disturbance," Happel said.
"The cases that we have seen of significant health-related problems from asbestos are people who were exposed in a much greater way. People who were working in the Navy, working shipyards, doing boiler work -- different work like that," Happel said.
While the effects may be rare, parents like Trueblood are glad the school district is taking the precautions.
"I'm glad that there are taking care of it because you think about the kid’s health as they grow up in the next 20 years," Trueblood said.