Cincinnati 2026-2027 school year radon checklist for parents

What Ohio law does and does not say

Ohio's radon statute, Chapter 3723 of the Revised Code, licenses the people who test and fix buildings for radon. It does not set a testing schedule for schools. The closest it comes is a duty for the state health director to coordinate the radon licensing program with any radon programs in schools. What exists instead is guidance: the Ohio Department of Health recommends retesting school, multifamily, and commercial buildings every five years or after a significant renovation, and EPA recommends that all schools nationwide be tested.

That leaves the decision with each district, private school, and child care center. Ohio's licensing law lets a building owner test its own property, so a district can run its own tests; anyone it hires to test needs an ODH radon license.

Why the question is worth asking

EPA's national survey of schools estimated that nearly one in five has at least one schoolroom with a short-term radon level above 4 pCi/L, EPA's action level, and EPA puts the number of schoolrooms in use with high short-term levels at more than 70,000. EPA also reports that only about 20 percent of schools nationwide have done some testing.

Schools here sit on the same ground as the houses around them. In Ohio Department of Health data from licensed testers since 2010, about 22 percent of Hamilton County home tests and roughly 36 to 37 percent of Butler, Warren, and Clermont County tests read above 4.0 pCi/L.

Five questions for the school office

1. Has the building been tested for radon, and when? If the last test was more than five years ago, or before a major renovation, ODH's guidance says it is due.

2. Which rooms were tested? Radon matters most in ground-contact rooms: classrooms, offices, and gyms on the lowest occupied floor or over a crawl space.

3. Who ran the test, and to what standard? The consensus protocol for schools is ANSI/AARST MA-MFLB-2023, which covers measurement in multifamily, school, commercial, and mixed-use buildings. Ask whether an ODH-licensed tester ran it or district staff did.

4. Did any room read 4.0 pCi/L or higher, and what was done? EPA recommends that schools act to reduce levels at 4 pCi/L. For existing school buildings, the consensus mitigation standard is ANSI/AARST SGM-MFLB-2023. Ask whether a fix was installed and whether the room was retested afterward.

5. Can parents see the results? A written summary by building and room answers most of the questions above in one page.

Private schools and child care

The guidance is the same: EPA recommends testing all schools, and nothing in Ohio's radon chapter sets a separate rule for private schools. A polite written request to the head of school for the most recent result, and for a test if none exists, is a reasonable first step.

Do not skip the test at home

Most children spend more hours at home than at school, and a bedroom or playroom on the lowest floor is where exposure adds up. A home test is inexpensive. Ohio homeowners can order a free kit through ohio.radon.com, and Northern Kentucky residents can buy one at a hardware store or hire a measurement professional certified under Kentucky law.

Look up your area in our radon levels by ZIP code table, read our answer on children and radon, and see radon testing for professional options. If you want help reading a school's radon report, call or text us.