News of Kingsbury's demise may be exaggerated

Kingsbury Middle School closed its doors Monday following Douglas County School District's consolidation plan, but the same doors may swing open again this fall, if radon mitigation at Zephyr Cove Elementary School is not complete.

"As far as I'm concerned, if Zephyr Cove is not ready by a certain date, we go to KMS," said Douglas County school board member Keith Roman on Tuesday. "The bottom line is that parents are anxiety-laden about this thing, and we need to assure parents that their kids will be in a safe place where radon is low."

The school board approved a motion to move Zephyr Cove's 180 students to Kingsbury for the beginning of the school year unless radon problems at the elementary school are cleared up by the first day of school, Aug. 20.

Last year, elevated radon levels in some Zephyr Cove classrooms spurred debate between parents, district employees and state health officials about proper mitigation techniques. High efficiency particulate air filters were installed in the school but later removed when it was discovered that air filtration was not a mitigation technique recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency.

In February, board president Teri Jamin wrote a letter to the EPA asking for assistance. The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors was subsequently scheduled to visit the school on June 10 to assess the facilty and recommend appropriate action; however, that visit has been postponed till sometime in July.

While waiting for the radon team, the school district issued a request for qualification to expedite the bidding and construction process. Possible mitigation strategies include active soil depressurization, a process of sealing off or redirecting radon gas away from a building's foundation.

Jamin said state health officials estimated mitigation would take two to three weeks depending on the team's findings, though no guarantees were made.

"Unexpected things keep coming up and killing your plans," Lake parent Lawrence Howell told board members.

Howell removed his two sons from Zephyr Cove last month. His wife, Heather Howell, said their children would not return to the school until it was safe.

"Be realistic and handle it the right way," Lawrence Howell told the board.

The board's contingency plan was amended to address two other concerns: disruption of the educational process and the misconception that Kingsbury Middle School was reopening. The amendment will require students to return to elementary school as soon as practically possible once mitigation is complete, most likely during a break period when instructional time would not be lost.