Cincinnati 2026-2027 school year radon checklist for parents

What Ohio law actually requires

Ohio law (added via HB 110 in 2021 and subsequent amendments) requires public-school districts to test for radon in occupied classroom spaces on a recurring multi-year cycle, with findings reportable to the Ohio Department of Health. Confirm the current testing-cadence rule with the Ohio Department of Health Indoor Radon Program for the most up-to-date framework. The testing protocol is similar to the residential ANSI/AARST MAH-2023 protocol: closed-house conditions during the academic year, continuous radon monitor deployment, chain-of-custody documentation.

Private schools and daycares are encouraged but not mandated to test under the same protocol. Many Cincinnati Catholic schools, independent private schools, and licensed childcare centers do test voluntarily; some publish results in their facilities documentation.

What to ask the school

Five specific questions to your child's Cincinnati-area district or private school office.

1. When was the most recent radon test conducted? Five-year cadence means a school tested in 2022 should have its next test in 2027. If the most recent was 2018 or earlier, the district is out of compliance with the five-year rule.

2. What classroom readings exceeded 4.0 pCi/L? The EPA action level for residential spaces is 4.0 pCi/L; school guidance is the same. If specific classrooms tested above that, the district is required to address them with mitigation, additional ventilation, or relocation of the occupied use.

3. What was the mitigation plan and timeline? Districts have flexibility in how they respond to elevated readings: install active sub-slab depressurization (the residential standard), increase HVAC fresh-air intake, or relocate the occupied use to a different room. All three are valid. What matters is whether the plan is on a documented timeline.

4. When is the next scheduled retest? Post-mitigation classrooms should be retested 30 to 90 days after the intervention, then annually for the first few years to verify the system holds. Ask whether the retest has been scheduled and what the result was.

5. Is the testing documentation available for parent review? The Ohio Department of Health does not require districts to publish individual classroom-level readings, but many do via their facilities or environmental health reports. Cincinnati Public Schools and several suburban districts publish summary documents.

What typical Cincinnati school findings look like

Cincinnati metro public schools, like the surrounding residential housing, sit on the Cincinnati Arch geology that produces EPA Radon Zone 1 designation. Findings published by various Greater Cincinnati districts over the past decade show roughly 5 to 15 percent of occupied classroom spaces test above 4.0 pCi/L initially; this rate matches the residential testing baseline for the region.

Cincinnati schools constructed before 1990 typically have crawl-space foundations or partial basements where radon entry paths are more numerous, and those buildings show higher exceedance rates. Post-1990 schools with slab-on-grade construction and modern HVAC fresh-air intake systems generally test lower because the building design itself reduces radon accumulation.

What to do if your child's classroom tests high

The classroom action sequence is straightforward and the district is required to drive it. Parent involvement is mostly verifying the timeline is being held.

Mitigation installation: Active sub-slab depressurization works the same in a school classroom as in a residential basement. A 4-inch PVC stack routed from a suction pit beneath the slab, through the school's mechanical chase, and out above the roofline. Schools sometimes install multiple suction points in larger classrooms to ensure full coverage. A single-classroom mitigation runs $1,500 to $4,000 depending on access and routing complexity.

Increased ventilation: Some districts choose to increase HVAC fresh-air intake to dilute the radon-bearing soil gas. This works as a partial measure but does not address the source. Districts that go this route should also pair it with mitigation rather than rely on ventilation alone.

Relocation: Moving the occupied use (the classroom) to a different room with lower readings. Sometimes the right answer when one specific basement-level classroom tests high and an upper-floor alternative is available.

Cincinnati-specific resources

The Ohio Department of Health publishes a school-level radon database for public schools; Cincinnati Public Schools and several suburban districts (Sycamore, Mason, Indian Hill) maintain their own facilities-environmental reports available on district websites. The American Lung Association of Ohio has historically published a Cincinnati-area school radon summary; check their current site for the most recent edition.

For private-school parents whose schools have not tested under the voluntary protocol, the typical respectful approach is a written request to the head of school asking for the most recent test result and, if no test exists, requesting one. The cost of a professional school radon test is $1,500 to $3,500 for a multi-classroom deployment; most Cincinnati private schools can absorb that within an annual facilities budget.

Free phone consultations include school-radon coordination if you want help framing the question for your district or want a recommendation for a credentialed Cincinnati measurement professional.