The asbestos contamination that shuttered Maiden Choice School in Arbutus this week is unusual but not unexpected in school systems such as Baltimore County's that are removing the material from aging buildings, experts said yesterday.
Cleanup crews spent yesterday throwing away or cleaning metal bed frames, wheelchairs and other items that were in the hallway when it was contaminated by asbestos last week.
Asbestos debris was found in the hallway Saturday after workers preparing to remove the hazardous material as part of a $2 million maintenance project accidentally broke through a wall, stirring up the fibers.
"There is asbestos sitting in a lot of these schools, and when you do a maintenance project or a construction project you have to be aware of that because there are kids," said Paul Abramson, an education consultant in Larchmont, N.Y., who works on school construction issues.
"But is it a major problem? No, I don't think it is."
The Maiden Choice incident underscores the challenges posed by asbestos removal in the county, where about 80 percent of the 162 schools are more than 40 years old.
This fiscal year, the school system is spending almost $14 million on the work, which school officials said takes place at night and on weekends.
According to the school system's facilities department, about $9 million is being spent on removing asbestos and replacing windows at 16 elementary schools.
They are: Berkshire, Carroll Manor, Dundalk, Edmondson Heights, Featherbed Lane, Fifth District, Franklin, Hawthorne, Middlesex, Norwood, Perry Hall, Rodgers Forge, Sussex, Villa Cresta, Wellwood International and Westowne elementaries.
The remaining $5 million is being used to remove asbestos as the school system replaces sprinklers, updates utilities and makes other major renovations.
That was the case at Maiden Choice, a 51-year-old school attended by 120 students with special needs. Crews had been removing asbestos since mid-September and were expected to finish next month.
After the contamination was discovered, however, school officials decided to close the building this week to remove remaining asbestos. Tests over the weekend found that the cleanup had restored safe air quality.
"Asbestos has been removed, and we haven't had incidents like this in a lot of cases," said Yale Stenzler, executive director of Maryland's public school construction program.
Stenzler said the county school system is "taking precautions to make sure no one is exposed and that seems to be the correct course of action." The Maiden Choice incident appears to be the first in the county this school year, after several such incidents in the past.
Last school year, the biggest releases took place at Hawthorne Elementary in Middle River and Villa Cresta Elementary in Parkville. Villa Cresta was closed for more than a week. Hawthorne was closed for three months, and pupils were sent to other schools.