The kindergartens were closed on Tuesday and part of Monday after its parent body Dunedin Kindergarten Association decided to close them as they used sand which were identified by authorities of possibly having asbestos in it.
Dunedin Kindergarten Association chief executive Nicola Hogg said yesterday five tests on five kindergartens had come back on Tuesday afternoon negative so they could reopen yesterday morning.
Testing on the remaining three kindergartners came back negative yesterday morning and these kindergartens were to open about noon and be open yesterday afternoon.
The kindergartens shut on Tuesday were: Abbotsford, Concord, Mornington, Mosgiel Central, Roslyn, St Clair, St Kilda and Waikari.
Otago Primary Principals Association chairwoman Kim Blackwood said the situation had been tough for schools.
Balaclava School closed on Monday because it had types of the identified sand at the school. The closure decision was also impacted by renovations going on at the school which limited space. Tests on sand which came back on Tuesday were negative for asbestos.
Ms Blackwood said the bit that had been hard for schools is that they had not necessarily needed to close but had to go through the process of a deep clean and all of those things.
"It's just then to what extent, if the product hasn't been opened, what do the rules look like to those that have actually been physically using it and needed to do something? So it has looked different from school to school."
Cleaning services companies had been called into schools and kindergartens to carry out deep cleans.
"I think it's just a matter of processing, you know, number one, have you got it? Number two, if you have, how have you gone about, you know, isolating it, removing people, and then getting through the cleaning process and notifying. And, yeah, like I say, it's created work, but ultimately we need to ensure that our children are safe."
She had not heard of any pupils being away from school over the past few days because of the asbestos issues.
