9 May 2014

School could stay closed next week

12:55 pm on 9 May 2014

It's unclear whether an inner-city school in Auckland will re-open next week as tests continue to identify any asbestos at the site.

Bayfield School in Herne Bay has been closed since Thursday after parents became worried that asbestos dust had spread from a demolition site on the grounds.

Contractors were at the school on Friday removing the remaining material containing asbestos from the demolition site.

More testing is being done on Friday and Saturday to see if there's any traces of asbestos outside the cordoned-off demolition area.

The chair of the Board of Trustees, David McPherson, said those results will help trustees decide if students will be back on Monday.

He said that if the school is closed next week they are planning to arrange for pupils to be taught at another school.

Tests so far have shown no sign of the dust in areas accessible to children and staff.

The Ministry of Education is to look into how the demolition site was managed but

said protocols for the safe removal of any asbestos were included in the tender.

The regulator WorkSafe will also be investigating.