PHILADELPHIA — (PHILADELPHIA) -- Two Philadelphia schools are immediately closing due to asbestos concerns amid a districtwide review of records on the potentially hazardous mineral fiber that was prompted by the discovery of asbestos at two other district buildings.
The School District of Philadelphia announced on Friday that a high school and an elementary school would be closing their buildings because of the presence of asbestos. Frankford High School will shift to virtual learning next week, while Mitchell Elementary School will shut its doors for the rest of the school year as officials seek a temporary location, the district said.
The discovery comes after asbestos was found earlier this year in two other district-owned and managed buildings that had"incomplete or inaccurate records," the district said. Nearly 300 buildings in the Philadelphia school district were constructed or repaired when asbestos was commonly used, school officials said. There are 295 buildings that require three-year inspections under the district's asbestos management program; as of March 21, inspections remained at 59 buildings, school officials said.
"With decades of underfunding, the District has had to balance insufficient resources to work on our facilities and the need to deliver pressing educational services," he said."It's an emergency," Thomas told ABC Philadelphia station WPVI."Our children are the core of who we are as a city and as a society, and what does it say about us?"
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