The Douglas County School District Board of Trustees and parents remain at a standstill when it comes to reducing levels of radon at Zephyr Cove Elementary School.

At the board meeting Tuesday night, the board voted 4-3 against providing active sub slab depressurization, a method to further mitigate radon at Zephyr Cove Elementary.

Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive gas that can reach potentially dangerous levels when trapped indoors.

The colorless, odorless gas is listed as the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Board Vice President Cynthia Trigg voted against the item because the hepafilters the district installed are working to bring down radon levels to EPA standards.

The sub slab would create a vacuum under the school, which would catch all the gas from the ground, including radon, and release it in another area away from the students, said Holly Luna, the district's director of business services.

This would prevent the radon gas from entering the school.

The board voted 7-0 to receive more information on sub slab mitigation.

Trigg said she wanted to have the best information in front of her while making the decision so she knew the cost, timeline and effectiveness of the project.

This left many parents frustrated.

"If the board doesn't address this in a complete and timely manner, the parents will become completely unglued," said Greg Felton, a parent.

Luna said Zephyr Cove and Whittell High School are meeting the Working Level stand of .016 WL.

The Working Level is a measure of radon byproducts.

According to the EPA's Web site, radon can be tested in working levels or picocuries per liter of air. If testing in picocuries, the agency recommends safe levels are lower than 4.0 pCi/L.

For Working Levels, the safe levels are .016 WL or lower. Some states require Working Level test results to be converted to picocuries to minimize confusion.

Felton said even though the tests results meet Working Level standards, the results don't meet the EPA's picocuries recommendations.

Even though the elementary school's music room has a .007 WL, the radon level was 7.5 pCi/L.

Felton said if the source is eliminated, which is the radon gas, these problems wouldn't be occurring. He said parents are becoming frustrated with the situation.

Another parent, Tracy Owen-Chapman, agreed.

"We want them to do everything possible," Owen-Chapman said.

Some parents are even looking for other schools, said Heather Howell, parent of two children attending Zephyr Cove.

She said as a parent, all options have to be looked at when it comes to the safety of children.

Because the district and the parents haven't resolved the radon issue, other important issues are being overlooked, Howell said. Too much time is spent discussing safety rather than improving education.

"Basic safety and welfare is getting in the way of our kids' education," Howell said. "We're too busy talking about radon."