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Sanford superintendent: state report finds elevated radon; district begins retesting and mitigation planning
Summary
Superintendent reported DHHS results showing elevated radon in 26 areas at Sanford Middle School and six at Sanford Pride Elementary and said the district has increased ventilation, begun continuous digital monitoring, scheduled full retesting and will secure a mitigation contractor if needed.
The superintendent told the Sanford School Committee on March 23 that recent state Department of Health and Human Services testing showed elevated radon in multiple locations across district buildings, including "over 26 areas" at Sanford Middle School and six areas at Sanford Pride Elementary. The district said the testing was voluntary and that results were shared with DHHS.
To reduce risk while further testing continues, the superintendent said the district has increased ventilation by running HVAC systems at night and on weekends and started placing digital radon monitors "in areas that tested high, starting with the locations with the highest results in the report." The district also has initiated a plan to retest the entire Sanford Middle School, aiming to complete that retest by the end of April school vacation and to obtain new monitor readings daily while the devices remain in place.
The administration said it is preparing to engage a commercial mitigation contractor if retesting confirms the high readings and is exploring whether planned summer HVAC upgrades can be accelerated. "We expect to get new results daily this week," the superintendent said when describing the district's monitoring plan.
District officials emphasized that testing was part of ongoing health and safety priorities and that operational changes—routine filter changes and extended system operation—have been in place before the state report. The committee did not take a formal vote on any mitigation contract during the March 23 meeting; the superintendent said next steps would depend on retest results and that mitigation work would be procured only if warranted by the data.
Parents and residents seeking more detail were directed to district communications and to await updated monitoring results to be posted as they arrive.
