Oakland school district report shows recent lead testing results
OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland Unified School District is set to address water quality at Wednesday’s school board meeting, where a new report by the superintendent will be presented.
This comes after teachers expressed concerns about high levels of lead in Oakland school water pipes.
Officials said on Monday they’re working to bring every water fountain up to code, but parents still have concerns.
The new report highlights recent testing, the latest numbers around lead levels, and contingency plans for drinking water on Oakland school campuses.
One parent at Edna Brewer Middle, Latashia Brown, said. "It’s scary… I don’t know what happens after you get exposed to lead in the water, like what happens to you?"
Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell’s report said the school district began testing at 40 schools in the spring and found 186 faucets and fountains needed repairs, with 83% of fountains passing the test and 6.5% testing higher lead levels than the state and federal limit.
The report also shows the most recent round of results from testing last week at 15 elementary schools which are more than 50 years old. It said while 95% of faucets showed lower levels of lead, less than 2% of drinking fountains had higher levels of lead than the state or federal standards.
The report indicates how the school district is working to resolve the problem. It said Frick United Academy of Language and Edna Brewer Middle School are some of the schools impacted, noting exact locations where repairs took place.
"I always give them a full water bottle every day, so I think the chances of them getting affected are pretty low," said Claire Lyons, who said she would still test her daughter’s blood.
Lyons questioned whether the school district would provide the money for testing for parents who don’t have insurance.
Brown said the schools should test students themselves.
On August 19, the school district sent a note to parents on ParentSquare reassuring them water pipes were being tested for lead.
Students were told to bring water bottles from home or drink from filtered water stations set up at schools, instead of water fountains while they resolve the issue.
"I saw that they had 2 water stations set up for the children so they’re not drinking from the regular fountain, which made me feel a little better about it – you know that they are taking action," said Brown.
Drinking fountains that have not been tested are shut down for the time being, according to the report.
Meanwhile, parents said they don’t feel confident the issue has been resolved.
"They did give us the link to see the results of all the schools and which water fountains were affected and what the levels were, but it was really hard to understand, so I would just like to see more transparency about what the levels actually are and how to interpret it," Lyons said, sharing the same concern as other parents.
In a statement from OUSD, the district spokesperson wrote in part, "While being very proactive in doing this testing, we were not as effective in communicating with everyone involved. We are putting systems in place to ensure a lack of effective communication does not occur again."
The report also addresses next steps for the district, which will create a regular lead-testing schedule within 30 days and will install more water bottle filling stations.
If you believe your child was exposed, you’re encouraged to reach out to their primary health care provider. The California Department of Health says a blood test is the only way to know for sure, and they can be covered by the state or insurance.
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