Asbestos Forces School Closure

Los Angeles Unified School District officials ordered the closure of Chatsworth High School on Friday after environmental workers discovered asbestos during a routine inspection.

The contamination may have affected up to 70% of the classrooms at the 3,200-student campus, said Shel Erlich, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Erlich said the health risk to students was not clear, but that exposure to the asbestos was most likely minimal.

“It sounds like a similar issue that we’ve had at several other schools,” he said. “Medical and environmental authorities tell us the exposure wouldn’t have been long enough to be harmful.” The school could reopen as early as Tuesday, Erlich said, but district officials will not make that decision until environmental inspectors certify that it is safe for occupancy.

Many schools built before 1973 contain asbestos fibers in ceilings or floor tiles, but the substance is considered safe unless released by construction, earthquakes, or other movement.

Once in the air, asbestos can lodge in the lungs and lead to a higher risk of cancer.

Inspectors found the problem as they reviewed maintenance and repair work being done at Chatsworth High under Proposition BB, a 1997 bond measure.

“If they find asbestos in an office or a separate gym, sometimes they can just close that [room] down and clean it up,” Erlich said. “But if you’re concerned about 70% of the rooms, it’s pretty impossible. On the side of safety, we made a decision to close that campus on Monday.”

District officials decided to close Chatsworth High late Friday afternoon, after students had departed for the weekend. The school plans to notify parents about the Monday closure through an automated telephone system that contacts each home with a recorded message.

School buses will run their regular routes Monday morning, said Dan Isaacs, assistant superintendent of school operations. About 900 students are bused to Chatsworth High, at 10027 Lurline Ave.

“We don’t want anybody to be left unattended without a pick-up,” Isaacs said.

Students who did not get the message about the closure will be bused to an area next to the campus, where school officials will try to reach parents to get permission to bus them home, he said.

All activities scheduled for the weekend at Chatsworth High have been canceled, clearing the way for clean-up workers to vacuum and wipe down surfaces.

Last year, after the Hector Mine earthquake north of Joshua Tree rattled Los Angeles, the school district closed Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights and Palisades Charter High School in Pacific Palisades to clean up asbestos contamination.

Parts of several other campuses, including Grant High School in Valley Glen, were also shut for asbestos removal.

With a flurry of school construction underway at campuses across the district, workers have inspected more than 150 projects for asbestos.