It has been revealed up to 70 public schools across the region may be at risk of asbestos exposure.
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Of particular concern are the eight schools around the Riverina that may enclose friable asbestos, which is known to break up and become powered quickly.
Ariah Park Central School, Barellan Central School, Sturt Public School in Wagga, Leeton High School and Griffith High School are among the affected.
Meanwhile 62 schools around the Riverina have been found to have damaged deposits of asbestos on their grounds.
Those schools include Coolamon Central School, Eurongilly Public School, three schools in Griffith, three schools in Gundagai, Illabo Public School, three schools in Junee, Leeton Public School, three schools in Narrandera, several schools in Wagga, and three schools in Young.
The state coalition government faced questions during budget estimate hearings on Wednesday, following a Labor Party review of the NSW Department of Education's asbestos register.
Discussions in the Legislative Council on Wednesday led the NSW Department of Education to confirm the likelihood that "asbestos can be found in public schools."
Secretary of the NSW Department of Education Mark Scott responded to concerns in a statement on Thursday.
"Asbestos was commonly used in buildings between the 1940s and late 1980s, and is present today in materials such as cement sheeting, cement roofing, vinyl floor tiles and wall lining," Mr Scott said in the statement.
"The Department takes immediate action where necessary, consistent with relevant statutory guidelines. All asbestos removal is conducted outside of school hours."
It follows concerns made public late last year by Wagga's independent member Dr Joe McGirr that the staff and students of Kooringal High School had been exposed to asbestos materials during reconstruction works.
Now it has been revealed that Kooringal Public School is also among the schools affected by potential asbestos exposure.
President of Kooringal Public's P&C, Bronwyn Lawrence said the discussions in parliament this week was the first the school community had heard of the potential problem.
"Obviously the Department needs to investigate whether it's loose," Ms Lawrence said.
"Parents definitely need to be made aware of it, but honestly this is the first I'm hearing about it at all."
Given the age of some of the school's infrastructure, Ms Lawrence is not alarmed to learn of the asbestos risk.
"All the schools around this area are older buildings, so it's not surprising, it's actually even expected there would be some asbestos," she said.
"It's a building material that was widely used when these schools were built, but it it is there, it needs to be removed safely."
Despite the announcement this week, Ms Lawrence said she retains full confidence in the Department's judgement.
"Now that it is known, I would hope the Department makes swift action to remove it, especially it's going to be a problem for staff and students," she said.
"They would have the best interests of our schools and students in mind, I suppose it's just something that needs to be monitored, and communication needs to be made with parents throughout the process [of removal]."
Mr Scott also affirmed that every effort is made to safely remove friable substances when found.
"The Department takes immediate action where necessary, consistent with relevant statutory guidelines. All asbestos removal is conducted outside of school hours," he said.
"This includes the removal of students from the area of concern, the engagement of an independent hygienist, air monitoring and the commissioning of licensed contractors to remove the asbestos in accordance with the Safe Work NSW guidelines."