LEBANON — An art classroom at Lebanon High School was closed Tuesday after custodial staff found a potential asbestos concern, principal Ian Smith informed families Tuesday afternoon.
Over the weekend, a teacher moved a wall-mounted chalkboard in the classroom, exposing and disturbing several daubs of glue that could potentially contain asbestos, Superintendent Amy Allen said Tuesday afternoon.
A custodian first flagged that the glue may contain the carcinogenic compound at about 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The classroom was quickly evacuated, locked and a custodian sealed the cracks around the door using tape to contain any airborne asbestos contamination that might have been released, District Communications Director Jack Rooney said.
An independent expert from Enfield-based Blue Rock Environmental sampled the glue pieces and sent the material off to a lab in Woburn, Mass. for testing, Rooney said.
Results are expected back by midday Wednesday. A separate contractor will conduct air quality testing in the classroom Wednesday morning, Allen said.
The glue had been in the classroom for some time, but it did not pose a risk until it was “agitated” by the board being removed from the wall, Rooney said.