INDEPENDENT RESEARCH · COLORADO K–12 SCHOOLS
The BRICK-12 Project collects and studies the asbestos and radon records Colorado schools are already required to keep — to learn whether those records exist, whether they are current, and what they show.
WHY THIS PROJECT
Federal law (AHERA) requires every school to keep an asbestos management plan, reinspect its buildings every three years, check known asbestos every six months, and tell parents and staff each year that the plan is available.
Colorado rules also require schools to test for radon, a radioactive gas that EPA ranks as the second leading cause of lung cancer.
Most of these buildings are decades old, and these records are public. But few people ever ask to see them. This project asks — consistently, across the state — and studies what comes back.
WHY IT MATTERS
Neither asbestos nor radon causes symptoms at the time of exposure. The harm shows up years or decades later, which is why the records — inspections, monitoring, test results — are the only early warning anyone gets.
Used widely in floor tile, pipe and boiler insulation, ceiling and wall plaster, and window glazing until the late 1970s and 1980s. Intact, well-managed material is low risk. Once it is damaged, worn or disturbed — by renovation, a leak, even hail — fibers can be released and breathed in.
Inhaled fibers can cause mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis, often 20 to 50 years after exposure. Teachers, who spend whole careers in the same buildings, carry a measurable share of that risk.
A colorless, odorless radioactive gas that seeps up from soil and rock and collects indoors, especially in ground-floor and below-grade rooms. It causes no short-term symptoms; the only way to know a room's level is to test it.
Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States after smoking. Colorado's geology makes it one of the highest-radon states in the country. The fix — a vent-and-fan mitigation system — is usually straightforward once a problem is found.
2000 · FORT MORGAN
Improper asbestos removal contaminated Fort Morgan High School, closing it for months. The cleanup cost about $8 million, and two men were federally indicted over the work and false certifications.
2010–11 · DENVER
Reporting found Denver Public Schools had not fixed elevated radon found in 76 older schools, could locate mitigation records for only one building, and had not tested more than a dozen newer schools.
2019 · MANZANOLA
The Washington Post described asbestos flaking from the gym ceiling of a rural elementary school while students played below, in a district that could not fund repairs.
2023 · COLORADO SPRINGS
Crews renovating Panorama Middle School found asbestos beneath layers of flooring two weeks before classes. The school closed for the semester and students moved to another building.
WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES
Whether you are a parent wondering what your school should have on file, or a school leader checking your own program, this is the short version. It is a summary, not legal advice; the full rules are linked in the sources below.
ASBESTOS · FEDERAL LAW (AHERA)
Applies to public, charter and non-profit private K–12 schools. In Colorado, enforced by CDPHE.
RADON · COLORADO RULES
There is no federal school radon mandate. Colorado is one of a handful of states that requires school testing.
THE QUESTIONS
PHASE 1 · THE RECORDS
PHASE 2 · THE CONDITIONS
HOW IT WORKS
One standard request to each district for the records AHERA and Colorado law already require it to make available.
Every document is coded against the same definitions, and every finding points back to the page it came from.
Findings are shared publicly and free of charge — with the methods and source records behind them — for schools, parents, staff and anyone else.
Free and open. Findings are free to everyone: schools, parents, staff and the public.
Unbiased facts. Every finding traces to a source record. A missing record is reported as missing, never as a hazard.
Urgent findings are shared. If a record shows an immediate risk, we tell the district and the state health department.
FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Every Colorado district receives the same request: each school's asbestos management plan, its latest reinspection and surveillance reports, its most recent annual notice, and its latest radon results with any mitigation records.
Electronic copies are easiest. If something doesn't exist or is held elsewhere, just tell us — that is useful information too.
Questions about a request: research@brick12project.com
CONTACT
The BRICK-12 Project · research@brick12project.com
SOURCES