New Rochelle shuts down fountains in elementary schools
Bottled water and water coolers will be available to students and staff in areas where fountains or sinks were shut down, according to a statement from the district.
NEW ROCHELLE - Less than a week before schools are set to open, 19 water fountains at six of the city's seven elementary schools have been shut down due to high levels of lead.
Henry Barnard Early Childhood Center had the highest concentration of fixtures — six drinking fountains — test higher than 15 parts per billion, the threshold for unsafe lead levels in water sources set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to a report made available Friday afternoon.
Bottled water and water coolers will be available to students and staff in areas where fountains or sinks were shut down, according to a statement from the district. School starts Wednesday.
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Water sampling by the district's consultant, Louis Berger, took place at Barnard, Columbus, Webster, Jefferson, Trinity and Ward elementary schools between June 1 and June 15.
Davis Elementary School removed all of its drinking and food-making sinks from service in May after there were concerns that bad water may have spread when the school was flushing pipes. All water fixtures at Davis remain shut off except for the food preparation sinks because those sinks were later found to not have elevated levels of lead, according to Jeff White, assistant superintendent for business.
Lead testing in the district's 11 schools started in March, but the district decided to expand the tests after the complications with Davis. The elementary schools were chosen to be sampled first before the summer break because "younger children are at greater risk of the effects of lead in drinking water," according to the report.
Isaac Young Middle School, Albert Leonard Middle School and New Rochelle High School will be tested in the coming months.
In June, the state Legislature passed a law requiring public school districts to periodically test for lead and make state aid available to help cover the cost. The measure has not yet been signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but Dani Lever, a spokeswoman with the governor’s office, said counsel is reviewing it.
About 100 school districts around the state, including many in Westchester and Rockland counties, voluntarily tested for lead earlier this year after water in Flint, MI, and Newark, NJ, was found containing high levels of the toxin.