A major Northern California school district disclosed Monday that nearly 200 of its drinking fountains and water faucets have elevated lead levels and that parents were wrongly kept in the dark.
The Oakland Unified School District, the state’s 11th-largest system, with more than 45,000 students, recently tested 1,083 of its campus faucets and fountains, looking for lead concentrations of more than 5 parts per billion (ppb).
The district's 5 ppb standard is more stringent than state and federal guidelines of 15 ppb.
Among the results:
- There were 897 faucets and fountains with 5 ppb or lower, meaning 82.8% were within the district's tougher guidelines.
- But 116 tested at more than 5 ppb and less than 15 ppb, accounting for 10.7% of campus faucets and fountains.
- And 70 tested at levels beyond state and federal standards of 15 ppb, accounting for 6.5% of campus water fixtures.
Of the 186 that came in at 5 ppb or higher, "61 fixtures have been fixed so far," with more to come, officials said.
And in an open letter to the "Oakland Unified Community," the district admitted that parents should have been notified earlier about the tests and the results.
"Despite our attention to detail and care for our sites, we did not communicate effectively to the members of each school community as the testing launched, as we received the results, and as fixes were being implemented," it said in a statement.
"We are putting systems in place to ensure a lack of effective communication does not occur again, and that school communities receive quick notice when this kind of testing is taking place on their campuses," it said.
Lead poisoning can be particularly harmful to young people, who could suffer developmental issues or learning disabilities.
The Oakland Unified School District is among the nation's most racially diverse, with about 49.5% of its students identifying as Latino; about 19.8% as Black; 14.3% as Asian, Pacific Islander or Filipino; and 9.3% as white.
