Tippecanoe Gazette

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WKEF News: Roof leak in Tipp City school causes concerns over asbestos

NOTE: This story is from our news partners at WKEF Dayton. To read the entire story, follow this link.

TIPP CITY, Ohio (WKEF) -- Parents are worried about asbestos following a recent roof leak at a school.

The district says many of their school buildings were built in the 1950’s and 1960’s when asbestos insulation was common.

Dayton 24/7 Now’s Lydia Bice took those concerns to Aaron Moran, Superintendent at Tipp City Schools.

Moran first wanted to set the record straight about the asbestos saying that it wasn’t recently found at Broadway Elementary, but that the district has known all along that the school was built with asbestos insulation.

The problem is the school had a recent roof leak in the gym and the concern is the leak could expose the asbestos.

“A lot of parents are concerned about asbestos, tell us where it was found and how?” asked Dayton 24/7 Now’s Lydia Bice.

“Asbestos wasn't found, we've known about the asbestos in that building for many many years that's what the construction was made out of,” said Moran. “The issue was a roof leak that has then got water on the asbestos that we think is on the asbestos so we, out of an abundance of caution, want to make sure there's no issues.”

The leak comes as the district is trying to get a levy passed on the March ballot for a brand new school building.

However, community members say they wouldn't need this levy if funds had been handled properly in the past. For example, the district paid almost a half a million dollars for new bleachers at the football stadium back in 2022.

"So we're renting the stadium and they took this money and instead of worrying about a roof on top of this school, which they knew they needed since 2015 they knew they needed it, they weren't worried about that, they were worried about kids playing sports,” said Kathy Bone, long-time Tipp City resident.

To read the rest of thee story from our news partners at WKEF Dayton. To read the entire story, follow this link.