OAKLAND — Tests have found lead contamination at seven Oakland elementary schools, and in the worst case, the levels were four times what is allowable under federal health standards, according to results posted on the Oakland Unified School District website.
Glenview Elementary School, which is in temporary space near the Emeryville border, was one of seven schools where the levels of toxic metals in the water were higher than what federal guidelines allow. According to tests done by the district, the water sampled from a kitchen tap at Glenview found levels of lead were 60 parts per billion, while the maximum recommended by federal guidelines is 15 parts per billion.
In addition to Glenview, the other schools that had lead levels higher than the federal recommendations were Burckhalter Elementary, Joaquin Miller Elementary, Brookfield Elementary, American Indian Charter School (Lakeview Elementary Campus), Fruitvale Elementary and Thornhill Elementary. The district first found high levels of lead in a water fountain on the football field at McClymond’s High School in August. The fountain was replaced and new tests found that lead levels were no longer a problem.
The district said that to date, 48 school sites have been tested. The district and East Bay Municipal Utility District will conduct further testing, said district officials.
Although the district began testing taps at other schools after the McClymonds incident in August, administrators at some of the elementary schools and the city’s board president James Harris told the San Francisco Chronicle that they were not aware of the unusually high levels at new school sites until they were notified by media.
That would mean that the parents of children attending those schools were probably also unaware, said Jason Pfeifle , a public health advocate for the consumer group CalPIRG.
“Any time a school has a positive lead test they should immediate close access to that water tap and notify parents through whatever systems they have set up, whether it’s posting the results on the district’s website or the school website or both,” Pfeilfle said. “Parents have the right to be aware if there is any lead in the drinking water so they can make decisions about the health of their child like sending them to school with a bottle of water or putting other things into place to reduce lead exposure.”
Pfeilfle said CalPIRG will be announcing a local initiative Wednesday to help remove lead from school drinking water.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children’s IQ, ability to pay attention and academic achievement can be affected by even low levels of lead, which is why it is critical to prevent lead exposure before it occurs.
In a prepared statement released by the district Friday, Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said that we let our families and staff down by a lack of communications about our proactive testing efforts.”
“But I stand by our decision to test the drinking water at all of our schools,”Johnson-Trammell said. “We are committed to doing what it takes to address this public health issue for the well-being of students and staff.”
