The Ministry of Education told schools they needed to cover the costs of removing the asbestos and cleaning contaminated areas. Photo: Product Safety
A union is calling for the government to take on the "large and unforeseen costs" of removing asbestos-tainted sand found in schools and early childhood centres.
Schools and health authorities have been scrambling, and students at about 40 schools were forced to stay home earlier this week, after asbestos was found in coloured play sand.
The product has been sold in both New Zealand and Australia, and subject to safety recalls.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education told schools they needed to cover the costs of safely removing the asbestos and cleaning contaminated areas.
NZEI Te Riu Roa president Ripeka Lessels said told Education Minister Erica Stanford the clean-up could be expensive and potentially financially cripple schools.
"Not only is this a question of budget deficits, more importantly, it may divert funding away from essential supports to learning," Lessels said.
She also called for "swift and decisive intervention", including a formal investigation into how asbestos-tainted sand had entered the country.
Disgraceful
May Road School principal Lynda Stuart, who is also a member of the principals' council of NZEI Te Riu Roa, said it was "disgraceful" schools and early childhood centres should have to pay for the removal sand and decontamination.
Coloured sand at May Road School had tested positive for asbestos, forcing students to work from home from Tuesday, Stuart said.
Stuart told Midday Report the school would likely spend $30,000 when the costs of testing, removal and decontamination were all added up.
"It's a big cost for a small school, where actually our operations grants don't even meet the cost of inflation," she said. "We're trying to ensure that every single dollar we spend is spent in the best interests of our children."
The unforeseen cost was the last thing that the school needed, when it was already dealing with temporarily closing 15 classrooms, Stuart said.
"The ministry should pay for remediation. Instead, they are leaving us in the lurch and making us deal with it all.
"Instead of telling us how and what to teach, they should be helping us in this situation."
RNZ has approached the office of the Education Minister for comment.
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