Asbestos Closes Two Philadelphia Public Schools

PHILADELPHIA — Two Philadelphia public schools are closed after officials found asbestos on their campus, officials said Tuesday.

The School District of Philadelphia said the Benjamin Franklin and Science Leadership Academy (SLA) campus will be closed on Tuesday, Oct. 1 and Wednesday, Oct. 2 after asbestos was found in the school's Commons area.

Benjamin Franklin High School is located at 550 N. Broad St., while SLA is located at 1482 Green St.

The closing of the campus is a proactive measure.

Damaged insulation material in the campus boiler room and in the SLA Commons area, which is currently under construction, was identified during recent environmental safety walkthroughs.

Testing of the damaged material in the boiler room confirmed that it contained asbestos.

Test results of the Commons area for SLA were below the Philadelphia Department of Health’s threshold for occupancy and no airborne asbestos fibers were detected outside the construction work area, though fibers at a low concentration were detected on a sample collected within the construction area.

The campus will be closed for the abatement of the damaged materials and to conduct further testing in other areas of the building.

District officials and the Philadelphia Federation Teachers will meet over the next two days to review the progress of abatement and testing, and to determine the status of opening on Thursday, Oct. 3.