THE Education Department is reminding schools to keep an eye on buried asbestos.
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It recommended that public schools in the region review asbestos maintenance as part of its annually updated register.
This includes information about the existence and sites of known or presumed asbestos-containing materials on school sites.
Most materials containing asbestos are safe and low-risk, and if undisturbed, pose no risk to health.
The department has an asbestos management plan for each school.
There is a site-specific management plan — for a small number of schools — that details the sites of asbestos inside the grounds.
The register showed 17 primary and high schools were urged to have routine quarterly checks and 16 were urged to inspect sites annually or after bad weather.
Blakehurst High School principal Brad Lester said the school monitored the situation.
"We've had lots of work done and it's no longer a problem," he said.
"About three years ago, the department gave us $200,000 to clear out a section where old houses were bulldozed to give us more space.
"I was constantly on to them about the problem before that."
Areas of possible asbestos-impacted fill material and exposed fill identified in 2012 on a section of the school's playing field were removed.
