NBC News
A major school district in Northern California revealed Monday that nearly 200 of its water fountains and faucets have elevated levels of lead and that parents were mistakenly not informed.
Oakland Unified School District, the state’s 11th largest and serving more than 45,000 students, recently tested 1,083 faucets and fountains on its campuses for lead concentrations greater than 5 parts per billion (ppb).
The district’s 5 ppb standard is stricter than state and federal guidelines of 15 ppb (parts per billion).
- There were 897 faucets and fountains with 5 ppb or less, meaning 82.8% were within district guidelines.
- However, there were 116 that tested more than 5 ppb but less than 15 ppb, representing 10.7% of campus taps and fountains.
- And there were 70 with levels above state and federal standards of 15 ppb, representing 6.5% of the campus water facilities.
Of the 186 with levels of 5 ppb or more, “61 facilities have been repaired so far” and more remain to be repaired, according to authorities.
And in an open letter to Oakland Unified, the district admitted that parents should have been notified sooner about these tests and results.
“Despite our attention to detail and care of our facilities, we are not communicating effectively with members of each school community about testing, results, and any remediation being implemented,” the district’s statement reads.
“We are putting systems in place to ensure that communication failure does not occur again and that school communities are notified quickly when such testing is being conducted on their campuses,” he added.
Lead poisoning can be especially harmful to young people, who may experience developmental problems or learning difficulties.
Oakland Unified School District is among the most racially diverse in the country: 49.5% of its students identify as Latino, 19.8% as Black, 14.3% as Asian, Pacific Islander or Filipino, and 9.3% as White.
