ELGIN — The Elgin School Board received good news Monday night.

School District superintendent Dianne Greif told the board that radon levels in the district’s buildings may be significantly less than initially believed. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive, colorless and tasteless gas that can cause health problems, including lung cancer from prolonged exposure.

The InterMountain Education Service District tested radon levels in all of the Elgin School District’s classrooms in the fall of 2019. The results of the testing indicated many of the classrooms had radon levels of at least 4.0 picocuries per liter of air, a level at which the Environmental Protection Agency recommends mitigation action. However, follow-up testing by the ESD indicated radon levels in all of the school district’s classrooms were significantly below the 4.0 picocuries level, although it also indicated the air in some classrooms was at or above threshold.

The discrepancy between the four-day tests may have been because of the weather conditions, according to Larry Glaze, the IMESD’s operations director, who is certified by the National Radon Proficiency Program to measure radon levels.

Glaze said on Tuesday it was very cold and there was little wind during the first test and windy and warmer the second time, and such variations can have a big influence on radon test results.

Due to the wide discrepancy, Glaze recommended testing throughout the 2020-21 school year in Elgin’s classrooms to get a more accurate assessment of the the average radon levels. Greif told the school board she will have the service district conduct the analysis.

“We want to have a more extensive test,” Greif said.

The superintendent also said a state grant the InterMountain ESD received will cover the cost of the additional testing.

Should the third test reveal radon levels are too high, the school district would take steps to lower the levels. Glaze said this can be done by placing pipes with fans over pits dug under buildings and having them run up over their roofs to prevent radon from passing through the structures.

“The fans suck up the radon from under the buildings,” Glaze said.

The Legislature in 2015 passed a law requiring all Oregon school districts to have their buildings tested for radon by Jan. 1, 2021, Glaze said.

Glaze said the ESD is serving as the consultant for radon mitigation work in the Ukiah and Milton-Freewater school districts and has already done this in the Umatilla School District.

The board also addressed Elgin High School’s graduation rate during Monday’s meeting. Oregon Department of Education statistics released Thursday indicated the school’s 2018-19 graduation rate was 75% while the state average was 80%. The dip followed graduation rates of 86.2% in 2017-18 and 94.4% in 2016-17, all above the state average both years.

Greif attributes the low 2018-19 mark to a trio of seniors who enrolled at Elgin High School after the school year started. The students later left in mid-year without enrolling in other schools, leaving EHS charged with their failure to graduate.

Overall, Elgin High School had four students who did not graduate, counting the three seniors who enrolled after the 2018-19 school year started, Greif said.

The school board also discussed the need to replace the high school’s aging bleachers at Monday’s meeting. Greif said there is one company in the region that can do the work this summer. She said the school district must soon arrange to have the company do this work because its summer schedule is filling up. Greif said if the district does not act quickly the new bleachers will not be installed until the summer of 2021.

The school board agreed via consensus Monday to have Grief arrange to have the company do this bleacher installation work this summer. Greif said the new bleachers will have handicapped accessibility features.