Even though summer vacation has begun, the schools in Nevada’s Washoe County School District are bustling with activity. This is because 50 schools in the district are undergoing various upgrades, including the removal of toxic asbestos, roof repairs, and other updates. Five of the oldest schools in the district are getting an “extreme makeover”.

“When the board sat down with our buildings people, they decided to put their greatest efforts into the oldest schools, but also those where student achievement needed a boost,” said district spokesman Steve Mulvenon. One such school is Alice Maxwell Elementary in Sparks, Nevada. The school qualified on both counts. The aging school is 51 years old, and has started showing it. Construction workers at the school have begun to remove old carpets, gutting parts of the building, and removing deadly asbestos debris.

Asbestos was once commonly used as insulation and fireproofing, and can cause lung cancer and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that manifests initially in the lungs, heart, and/or abdomen.

School officials believe that making these renovations will protect the health of their students. In addition, studies have shown that improvements such as updating the heating, air conditioning and lighting in a school can have a positive impact on student test scores.

For school districts nationwide, the problems surrounding asbestos in school buildings is not new. Millions of structures, including again schools, that were built before the 1980s contain asbestos products like ceiling tiles, floor tiles, and insulation. Due to the high cost of asbestos abatement, coupled with the cost for permits, labor, and replacement of asbestos materials with safer alternatives, school districts often delay abatement for as long as possible because there is not enough funding within their budget.

If school-aged children are exposed to asbestos, they may not exhibit any symptoms of asbestos disease until they are well until adulthood. However, in recent years, some individuals as young as 13 have been diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, and a woman aged 28 recently passed away in the UK due to complications stemming from asbestos cancer.

Generally, people who are diagnosed with this disease are in their sixties or seventies.

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