A memo sent by Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm of the city Department of Education instructs that visual inspection for leaks or stains that "would be either brownish/black or a lighter shade of yellowish/brown" is to begin "immediately." Those leaks could indicate the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a manmade chemical in common use until its banning in the mid-1970s. Studies have shown that longtime exposure could lead to cancer.
If a ballast appears to be leaking, custodians are to check the floor beneath the fixture. If stains are found, they are to be reported and the area is to have limited access, the memo said.
Ballasts that don't work, even after the bulb is changed, should be checked as well.
Leaky ballasts are to be reported to the deputy director of facilities with a work request, though ballasts will not be replaced without further instruction.
Earlier this week, parents at PS 36 kept their children home from school until physical inspections -- in which custodians removed the lenses and light bulbs in every ballast -- were performed, with leaky ballasts replaced, and air monitor tests completed.
Just 26 percent of the school's 923 students were at school yesterday, following a dismal 25 percent the previous day, according to DOE spokeswoman Margie Feinberg.
Tests conducted more than a week ago showed PCB levels to be high in light ballasts in two classrooms. Those fixtures have since been replaced, and work is being done on other ballasts.
City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore), who joined Ms. Grimm, the deputy chancellor, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott and Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) on a tour of the school yesterday morning, said he was happy to see the DOE taking such an initiative.
"This directive is a major policy change," he said. "This unfortunate circumstance at PS 36 may actually have a positive outcome."
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has been pressuring the city to inspect and replace ballasts that could contain PCBs in about 740 city public schools.
DOE spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz has said the city is taking the issue "seriously" but that federal funding would be necessary "or this could have devastating consequences on our education budget."
