Principals tell Senate panel PCB testing and remediation is disrupting schools and costing millions
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Summary
School leaders testified that PCB testing has forced program relocations, transient classroom moves and costly remediation. Witnesses urged a funding plan before more testing is carried out; North Country principal said full removal or demolition costs are in the millions and monitoring adds long‑term expense.
Principals and a superintendent told the Senate Education Committee that airborne PCB detections have caused major disruptions, repeated testing and mounting costs that local districts cannot sustain without a clear funding commitment from the state.
Katie Sutton, superintendent of the Hartford School District, said elevated PCB levels required moving culinary arts and some health‑science programs off campus and relocating 12 classrooms a week before school opened. “These students are losing about 10 hours a week,” Sutton said, describing transportation and instructional impacts. She told senators the state‑funded quarterly testing program costs over $100,000 annually for implicated schools and rose about 20% this year to roughly $120,000.
Rebecca, principal of Twin Valley Elementary School, said her campus is in year two of a nine‑phase remediation. She said phase four is “estimated at about $2,000,000,” and that quarterly air testing costs about $150,000 this year. She noted that Federal Environmental Protection Agency material monitoring and state air testing together create long‑term obligations, including ongoing EPA oversight for encapsulated materials.
Chris Young, principal of North Country Union High School, described an emergency closure after a July 2024 test and the district’s on‑campus response (rented tents, rapid engineering, added bus routing and Wi‑Fi) to keep students in person. Young outlined three corrective options he received in a draft corrective action plan: hand‑tool removal (about $21,000,000), mechanized removal (about $16,000,000) or demolition (about $12,000,000). Consultants also estimated roughly $12,000,000 in 30‑year monitoring costs.
All three witnesses told the committee that PCBs behave inconsistently with season and temperature, complicating air sampling and prompting some districts to supplement air tests with bulk material sampling to identify likely sources such as caulking or masonry that can outgas over time.
Both Young and Rebecca urged the legislature to ensure funding for remediation, reconstruction and long‑term monitoring before expanding or continuing a statewide testing program. “I would highly encourage you to cease the testing program, until and unless there is serious thought to how it's gonna be funded,” Young told the committee.
Why it matters: The testimony highlights operational disruption to student learning, long‑term fiscal liabilities for remediation and potential equity issues if only some districts are in the testing pipeline and receive state support.
The committee received the testimony for its consideration as it debates a bill addressing testing, remediation priorities and potential funding mechanisms.
