The city’s department of education could not inspect a majority of Big Apple schools for the asbestos of toxic material, with more than four out of five buildings that did not remain less than federal standards, found a new shocking audit.
The audit of the Office of the Comptroller of New York City obeyed exclusively by the post found that more than 82% of the 1,700 schools in the city Built with known carcinogen, they were not examined during the time frame of three years required.
The audit, from March 2021 to March 2024, revealed “significant gaps in the supervision” that put students, teachers and other employees at risk of being exhibited to the dangerous mineral.
“Our first government in government is to keep New Yorkers safe,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “When it comes to our children, the city must adhere to the rules designed to protect them from known hazards, this is not optional. However, it has done so surprisingly has not managed to follow the minimum national standard for asbestos management for years.”
The report also criticized the agency for poor record maintenance among other defective processes.
Checks are required under the Emergency Response Law of Asbestos (Ahera), a Federal Law of the United States promulgated in 1986, which requires that the DO inspect all schools with asbestos in potential issues every three years and leads.
However, the audit found that the DOE had made Betsen 200 and 250 inspections during the three periods of more recent periods to carry out 480 inspections per year.
And when the officials managed to reach a few hundred schools in that period of time, only capable of completing the follow -ups required 22% of the time.
The worrying trend dates back to almost all inspection cycle since 1997, chrowing to the Comptroller’s Office, which found that only an average of 11% of schools are properly verified in each period.
“As a former father of the public school, parents trust the city when they send their children to school every morning,” said Lander.
“That is why today I urge the Adams administration to take quick measures to meet because no father or employee of the school should feel insecure entering a school.”
In Brooklyn, where the DO has the largest number of schools, the DOE completed only 13% of the periodic asbestos inspections required, while only 16% of the queens were inspected on that period, according to the report.
The audit is expected to be released to the public on Wednesday morning.
In a written response to the Comptroller, the school agency said it plans to submit a formal request for more contractors to help complete inspections, recognizing the deficit.
The DO also agreed with eight recommendations made in the audit, which included new protocols and policies for the inspection process, more training for custodians and better record maintenance.
