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Offering safe virtual meetings and e-signatures for new client onboarding. "Our clients enjoy talking about their retirement dreams and we enjoy helping them get there." Peter & Jennifer info@watsoninvestments.com (905) 842 -2100 The Halton District School Board (HDSB) has launched an internal re- view after asbestos debris was found in several class- rooms in an Oakville school, months after reno- vation work was completed. Munn's Public School parents were not notified of the incident until two weeks after a visit to the school by the Ministry of Labour in late March. The news of the find was delivered in an April 7 email to families by Munn's principal. Several of those parents expressed anger over a "lack of transparency" by the board, and fear for their children's health, during delegations to the board May 4. "Our kids had to endure a full six months of the as- bestos debris before some- thing was done ..." said an emotional Sandeep Kakan, who asked for the public identification of the con- tractor and subcontractor and an apology letter from the board and/or contrac- tor. There are many parents anxiously waiting clarity on the events that trans- pired, said Kakan. "We, as parents, (our) mental health was affected badly, too," said Joyce Dong, another parent. "So we are so stressed these days, spending a lot of time read- ing about asbestos, worry- ing about the long-term ef- fects on my child, and all of these could be easily avoid- ed should this system be more transparent and bet- ter communication could be delivered." Because of its associated health risks, the use of as- bestos was reduced in the 1980s, but not banned by the federal government until 2018. So older schools in On- tario, including Halton, still contain asbestos. But if un- disturbed, it's not a concern, said Ian Gaudet, HDSB's ex- ecutive officer of facility services. "It's in floor tiles, it's in thermal insulation in boiler rooms. We do annual audits to ensure that this product is in good condition and is being well maintained and at the same time, we do ren- ovations, and we remove it," said Gaudet. The scope of work at the Sixth Line school in June 2021 included the removal of floor tiles and mastic (adhe- sive) that contained asbes- tos, said Gaudet. The process was com- pleted and overseen by a third party to ensure no contaminants were left in the space, said Gaudet. With the installation of the new ventilators last fall, the board believes the as- bestos was released by a subcontractor who "inad- vertently cut some heating lines that used to service the radiator" in some class- rooms, he said. The individual who dam- aged the thermal wrap would have had the greatest exposure, said Gaudet in re- sponse to parent and trust- ee concerns about the health effects on students and staff. "I don't want to minimize it but in terms of positive things working for us, there were no staff and no stu- dents during those opera- tions (to remove the asbes- tos debris)." New ventilators and HE- PA filters were in place and masks were being worn for the most part, he added. Communications were lacking because staff was fo- cused on remediating the problem, but Gaudet said he agreed the board could have been more transparent. "I will work on that and work to see what we can do," said Gaudet. "It does damage the trust and the relationship, and we're actively working to re- build this and at the same time, still get to the bottom of what transpired." The board has conduct- ed a risk assessment of oth- er school sites where simi- lar work was being under- taken by this particular general contractor, said Gaudet. PARENTS DEMAND ANSWERS AFTER ASBESTOS FOUND IN SCHOOL KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com NEWS