QUESTION: During a scheduled basketball game at Southern High School, the condition of the visitors’ bleachers was deplorable. The top row of the bleachers was covered by a fine powdery white dust that appeared to be falling from the ceiling or walls. Is this paint dust contaminated with lead or asbestos?
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ANSWER: No, the gym at Southern High School is not contaminated with lead or asbestos, Alamance-Burlington school system chief operations officer Greg Hook confirmed for The Alamance News Wednesday morning.
Rather, the “fine powdery white dust” is coming from a large roofing project that is currently underway on the gym building at Southern High School, Hook said.
“They do asbestos testing before they ever begin construction, and we can confirm it’s nothing hazardous,” ABSS chief communications officer Emily-Lynn Adkins explained in an interview Wednesday morning. “It’s just dust from where they’re working on the roof.”
The dust is coming from the Tectum (a brand of acoustic ceiling materials) ceiling inside the gym, Adkins said, adding, “It’s because they’re [roofing crews] are on the roof.”
The roof work on the gym building is targeted for completion within the next couple of weeks, though that timeframe could change, depending upon weather conditions, Hook said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, reroofing projects on several other buildings at Southern High School are targeted for completion by mid-summer 2025, the COO said.
School board members had voted last August to award a $3.7 million contract for the roof work at Southern High School to Bar Roofing & Maintenance of Kernersville. The contract is being funded by remaining proceeds from the $150 million bond package that voters approved for ABSS in November 2018.
