Lead levels more than 100 times threshold force rooms to close at North Ainslie Primary School

It is the second ACT public school to be affected by lead contamination issues in recent weeks after 11 classrooms at Yarralumla Primary School were closed for environmental cleaning at the beginning of Term 3.

In a letter sent to parents on Thursday, North Ainslie Primary School principal Tania Collis said the above-threshold lead levels were found in a storeroom, toilet, art storeroom, a staff office and a breakout room, which is also known as the sensory room.

An Education Directorate spokesman said highest reading was 12.89 milligrams per square metre (mg/sq m) in an area of the art store room that had recently been sanded. This is 117 times the Education Directorate's acceptable level, which is 0.11mg/sq m.

Two readings of 0.4mg/sq m were recorded in toilet and storeroom, which are not accessible to students.

A reading of 0.3mg/sq m was detected on the windowsill in the breakout space which is used for small group learning sessions.

The top of a cupboard in the staff office had a reading of 0.16mg/sq m.

The spokesman said it was anticipated that environmental cleaning work would be completed this weekend.

The rooms will remain closed until testing by a licensed assessor confirms they are safe to occupy.

The school alerted the Education Directorate to recent painting work that could have created lead paint dust after the Directorate sent communication out to all schools regarding lead paint management.

Liberal spokeswoman for education Elizabeth Lee said the situation needed to be resolved quickly and decisively.

"The Education Minister failed to adequately satisfy the deeply held concerns of parents, students and staff after their exposure to toxic substances at Yarralumla Primary School," Ms Lee said.

"The Minister cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes.

"Students and staff deserve safe schools and parents deserve peace of mind that their children are safe when they're at school."

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Education Minister Yvette Berry said the safety of students and staff was the priority.

"I understand that people may be feeling anxious but I want to reassure the North Ainslie Primary community, and the wider community, that the Education Directorate is managing the lead dust in line with expert advice," she said.

"It's important to note that none of these areas are classrooms, and students will not need to be relocated for the areas to be cleaned."

The school was inspected by the Directorate on August 21 and initial testing found high lead levels in three rooms on August 28. High readings were returned for a further two areas on August 31.

Further areas of the school are being tested for lead contamination.