Quarantine at Sparta High School (Fiction)

By Natasha Mason

A Sparta High School class was quarantined on Thursday, January 21 due to exposure to asbestos. The exposure to these asbestos fibers was due to a broken floor tile and a few broken heat wraps in a room in the English Department. The floor tile was broken due to a desk being dropped, causing the tiles to also loosen. The heat wraps were discovered by a repairman inspecting the pipes due to a water leak. The repairman found that the wraps had come off of the pipes.

Asbestos is a mineral fiber that was commonly used in numerous building construction materials like cement, shingles, and roofing felt. It was a very popular because of its strength and heat resistance. It is also found in some clothing, car parts (brakes, transmission parts, and the clutch), gaskets, and specialty paper. When these asbestos-containing minerals are damaged, the fibers become airborne and can be inhaled in the lungs. Once in the lungs, asbestos can become a huge health problem. The fibers attach to a persons lungs, putting that person more at risk for lung disease, asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. All of these problems are not curable.

So what's happening to the students in the classroom? "The students are quarantined for 24 hours." said Dale Stafslien, assistant principle at the school. According to the school, the 14 students, their teacher, and Stafslien, who willingly went into the classroom to tell the students what was going on, are all quarantined so the school can make sure they are all ok. They will have their lungs looked at to make sure no fibers have gotten into their lungs. If any fibers have gotten into their lungs, the school's insurance is going to cover all medical costs that might come of this incident.

While this class is quarantined, the room is being fixed and the asbestos is being removed. The school has known about the asbestos from the beginning, as it has been in the school since it was built, but due to cost, the only steps that can be taken to remove it are fixing things when they break. The school is handling the situation the best way possible and it should be known that they did not violate any rules. The school is not responsible for this unfortunate situation.