Asbestos Efforts Rate Better Grade

I read, with great interest, the article by Evelyn De Wolfe in the Times dated Sunday, Jan. 8, entitled “Schools Get Low Marks for Asbestos.” Although not in a position to grade the efforts of other school districts, I would strongly suggest that the Los Angeles Unified School District deserves an “A+” for its efforts in complying with the new asbestos laws.

The district recently completed a survey of more than 65 million square feet of buildings, collected and analyzed more than 70,000 samples of suspected asbestos-containing building materials and prepared more than 800 individual site management plans.

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The asbestos survey did not disclose any material health hazard in student-occupied areas. This is largely due to the $10.5 million the district has expended over the past five years to identify and abate such potential hazards. It is estimated than an additional $4.2 million will be required to address potential hazards identified by the survey. When the cost of the survey itself is added, the district will have spent $18.7 million on asbestos without receiving one penny of support from either the state or federal government.

This lack of financial support from the state is especially distressing given the passage of a $100 million bond issue on the November, 1988 ballot to “identify, assess and abate” asbestos. (This was part of the larger $800 million bond issue for school construction.) The Governor should act now to release these funds, so that all school districts in the state can comply with the asbestos legislation without taking away scarce dollars from the instructional program. MARGARET A. SCHOLL

Maintenance Director,

L.A. Unified School District