Kensington High School students will be relocated after asbestos ‘concern’ during HVAC project

Kensington High School students and staff are being relocated to the vacant Austin Meehan school building through the end of the calendar year, after an asbestos “concern” arose during an HVAC project, Philadelphia school district officials said.

While workers were installing a new heating and cooling system, “an asbestos inspector identified a concern about the demolition of the old system,” Oz Hill, the district’s deputy superintendent of operations, said in a letter to the high school community Thursday — a little more than a week before the new school year begins Aug. 24.

Hill said the district “immediately stopped the project and has been working cooperatively with the city’s Air Management Services and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers while the building is thoroughly cleaned and air quality tests are conducted to show the space meets standards to be reopened.”

Arthur Steinberg, president of the PFT, said he was told that “a contractor broke into some space … disturbed some asbestos, and tracked it all over the building.”

“That essentially contaminated the entire building, by them moving around after the asbestos material was disturbed,” Steinberg said in an interview Friday.

Steinberg said the relocation to Austin Meehan, a vacant middle school in Northeast Philadelphia, would mean “turmoil.”

Austin Meehan, which closed in 2022, is more than seven miles away from Kensington High School.

In the message, Hill said the district had considered closer options, but they “did not meet the space or accessibility needs for Kensington’s more than 400 students and 90 staff.” He said “details about the schedule, transportation, and all logistics will be forthcoming.”

A district spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Steinberg said the relocation “creates logistical nightmares for everybody,” with new commutes for staff and families.

“But it’s better than trying to make them occupy a building that’s contaminated with damaged asbestos,” Steinberg said. He said the PFT will be on site as Kensington staff report to Austin Meehan Monday to hear and address concerns.

The PFT also has an occupational hygienist at Kensington High School supervising the district’s work, to ensure the asbestos is properly cleaned up and tested, Steinberg said.

The union “will ensure that building is suitable for occupancy, or our members will not go back in,” he said.

Asbestos has been a recurring issue in the Philadelphia School District’s aging buildings. In recent years, some schools have temporarily closed after the discovery of damaged asbestos.

Hill said the district “will also work to address other Kensington building needs, including maintenance repairs and the continued proactive removal of asbestos materials where we can minimize future risk of damage.”

“When Kensington students and staff return to the building in January, they will be welcomed back to a healthy, more comfortable space for learning,” Hill said.