Illinois School Shut Down due to Asbestos

Earlier this week, a Southeastern School Board voted to close the Plymouth Elementary School and transfer all operations to a building closer to the junior high.

Jay Wegman, the president of Community State Bank of Plymouth is reportedly planning to take the NBC affiliate in Quincy into the building near the junior high, which he says should spark major health concerns.

Bowen Building Contaminated with Asbestos

The Bowen building, where the children from the elementary school will be moved to, is reportedly contaminated with asbestos causing mesothelioma cancer.

“The old wood staircase is encased in lead paint, lead paint that’s flaking off the walls, we’ve got ceiling tiles falling from the ceiling. There’s no access to the fire escape on the second floor landing, you can clearly see the asbestos problem,” explains Wegman.

Why the School is Being Moved

According to reports, Plymouth Elementary is being closed due to a number of factors.

The first one is that the school has reportedly been running on a deficient budget for the last four years.

The second reason for the closing is due to a fire that destroyed the school last spring and the need for more learning room due to the destruction that hasn’t been rebuilt.

However, Wegner says the decision to move to an asbestos ridden school is a bad one.

“It’s an 85-year-old fire trap,” claims Wegner, “They will deny the existence of the asbestos problem in the first floor, but it’s clearly there.”

(Source: Macomb Journal)

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