Five months after being forced out of their classrooms by asbestos and other building problems, students have returned to Benjamin Franklin High and Science Leadership Academy (SLA) in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that in October, the two schools had to vacate the building they share amid damaged asbestos and problems resulting from a $37 million renovation. The delay and environmental clean-up will put the final project cost at as much as $50 million, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. says.
Construction was largely finished in January, but officials used the extra time to take hundreds of air samples and thoroughly clean the building — which Hite said is now “completely asbestos safe.”
“At this point, there’s no indication that anyone should have any problems,” says Jim Creedon, interim operations director. Creedon was a district consultant who was brought on after the work at Ben Franklin and other jobs developed problems.
Almost 1,000 students were scheduled to return to the building at the beginning of the school year, but construction delays pushed start dates back. When students returned later in the fall, some of them reported health problems, and it became clear that the environmental conditions made the still-under-construction building not suitable for occupancy.
When students last attended classes in the building, the sixth floor was closed and the kitchens were nonfunctional. Now, full-service cafeterias for Ben Franklin and SLA are open for business. The gym has new flooring, seating, and paint. Every window in the building has new glass that lets more light shine through.
SLA was temporarily housed at Philadelphia School District headquarters just a block away, and Ben Franklin moved further north, to the old Khepera Charter School building near Temple University Hospital.
Students will still have separate entrances, classrooms, gyms, and eating spaces; Ben Franklin occupies the Broad Street side of the building and SLA the 15th Street side. Students will have some opportunities to work together in extracurricular activities.
The Ben Franklin construction project and subsequent asbestos discovery laid bare problems not just with asbestos and other environmental problems, but also with district processes and communications. The district’s inspector general is investigating what went wrong.
For starters, the district will no longer green-light major construction projects before handling asbestos jobs, Hite says. Going forward, he says, “if we’re going to do a renovation or modernization, we’re going to go in and remove all of the environmental hazards.”
More than 75% of district buildings contain asbestos. To date, 10 schools have had to close because of damaged asbestos, and work is underway or planned at many more. The superintendent has said that the district needs $125 million in new funding over five years to make all buildings lead- and asbestos-safe.
A few construction projects remain to be finished at the school — including renovating some bathrooms and locker rooms — but those jobs will not be undertaken until the summer.
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