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About a quarter of Vermont public schools had not completed required radon testing as of January 2026, state auditor memo finds
Confidence: Confirmed · 2 sourcesVermont · Oct 13, 2026
Subject of this story
Vermont Department of Health
Vermont Agency of Education
Also named
Oversight
Vermont State Auditor of Accounts
What happened
Vermont law required public and approved independent schools to test for radon, with a June 30, 2025 deadline. A February 2026 memo from the State Auditor's office, which says it is not an audit, found that 206 of 299 public schools (69 percent) completed testing by the deadline and 218 (73 percent) by January 31, 2026, based on the Auditor's outreach to superintendents. Because the law had no reporting requirement, neither the Department of Health nor the Agency of Education holds a comprehensive list of which schools complied or of the results. The memo reported 20 schools with radon levels at or above the EPA action level.
Sources (2)
Vermont State Auditor memo on school radon testing (Feb. 13, 2026)Because the testing requirement wasn't accompanied by a reporting requirement, neither the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) nor the Agency of Education has a comprehensive list of which schools complied with the requirement or the testing results.
VTDiggerNearly a quarter of schools failed to conduct required testing for radon, an odorless, colorless gas that is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S.
Response
Vermont Department of Health
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Vermont Agency of Education
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What happened next (0)
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