Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Facilities Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Radon tests at high school and North Park peak overnight but 48‑hour averages fall below EPA action level
Summary
Short‑term winter testing placed 194 detectors across high school and North Park; three occupiable spaces had short‑term peaks above the EPA action level of 4.0 pCi/L, but follow‑up 48‑hour continuous monitoring returned averages below 4.0 pCi/L, so no remediation is required now.
District facilities staff presented radon test results for the high school and North Park. The district conducted short‑term testing (194 detectors total: 137 at the high school and 57 at North Park) in winter testing windows and found three occupiable spaces with short‑term peak readings above the recommended action level of four picocuries per liter (two high‑school peaks at 4.3 pCi/L and one at North Park at 5.0 pCi/L).
"The recommended action level is four picocuries per liter," Director Hennekens told the board. For rooms that registered short‑term peaks above 4.0, the district performed 48‑hour continuous monitoring (hourly readings). "After we did the continuous radon monitoring… the average levels of radon were well below the four point oh," Hennekens said, adding that no mitigation is needed for those spaces at present.
Staff explained why short‑term peaks can occur: radon enters from the ground and can build in occupied spaces when HVAC systems are off overnight; daytime HVAC operation usually lowers levels. If continuous averages had exceeded 4.0 pCi/L, the district would schedule mitigation measures such as extended HVAC run times or other engineering controls.
What happens next: The district will post test results to the website, continue its five‑year testing cycle (Columbia Academy, Valley View and Highland scheduled in a couple of years), and address any future high‑average spaces with mitigation steps.
Ending: The board received the report as an informational item and confirmed the district's plan to communicate results to staff and families and to continue regular testing.
