February 1st, 2007

The New Westminster school board is in the process of setting up meetings with students, teachers, and parents, after admitting to failure to respond appropriately to an asbestos related incident that occurred around 15 years ago. The meetings that have been set up are designed to address the issue relating to the incident and how it was dealt with at the time, as well as providing information about exposure to asbestos and the danger that it can pose.

The school district was fined $75,000 by WorkSafe BC following the incident, which took place in April 2005. A report was also put together by WorkSafe BC at the time. A spokesman for the school district stated: “We realized, with the report from WorkSafeBC, that people should have been more fully informed of the incident and of the possible consequences. We take our lead from WorkSafeBC. The information I had is that the environment wasn't unsafe."

However, a parent of one of the students at the school said that when he inquired about the incident the whole thing had been played down. He stated: "When I asked about the incident at the finance and administration committee meeting, I was told not to worry -- it was minimal, there were no kids around at the time, and everything was fine."

He also added that it was unlikely that parents, teachers, and students would receive the full story even at the meetings, adding: "Given their past record, they're only going to give out what information they're forced to give out. It's not good enough."