Federal prosecutors charge Philadelphia school district with asbestos-related safety violations

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against the Philadelphia school district for not meeting requirements to keep students and staff safe from asbestos exposure.

Chalkbeat Philadelphia reports that the Justice Department has concluded that the district failed to conduct timely asbestos inspections, as mandated by federal law, and that district officials “purposely” delayed inspections and “knowingly and regularly failed to make necessary repairs."

In response, the school board voted unanimously to enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department to resolve the investigation and avoid being prosecuted.

The details of the yearslong investigation were made public Thursday. Philadelphia is the first school district in the nation to face criminal charges over this type of environmental violation, the Justice Department said.

Nearly 300 schools in the Philadelphia district contain asbestos, a common building material that can cause breathing problems and lung disease when it deteriorates and is breathed in. Federal law requires school districts nationwide to regularly monitor for asbestos and to ensure they repair any damage quickly to reduce exposure risk.

Many Philadelphia school buildings are aging need significant repairs. In recent years, the district has closed several schools because of asbestos.

The Justice Department’s investigation, which began in 2020 and examined the district’s asbestos monitoring program between 2015 and 2023, revealed “a longstanding and widespread problem of asbestos contamination in Philadelphia schools,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The district’s approach “endangered students and teachers, and, in some cases, foreclosed any education at all by requiring the closure of the school,” the statement said.

In the district's agreement with Justice Department, it has committed to complying with asbestos-related laws, including inspecting buildings every six months and regularly repairing damage. The agreement also requires the district to report updates about its asbestos program to the court twice a year.

The Justice Department’s agreement details a long list of problems with how the district ran its asbestos monitoring program, including failing to supervise the team in charge of handling asbestos and inconsistently inspecting schools with major asbestos problems.

According to the agreement, 31 schools were affected by the district’s inadequate approach.