NEWTON — Parents concerned about their children’s exposure to lead found in drinking water at Burr Elementary School are calling on officials to develop a more transparent and comprehensive plan to deal with the problem.
The current testing procedures “have failed our children,’’ said a letter sent to Superintendent David Fleishman and Mayor Setti Warren by a group calling itself Parents of Burr.
“Naturally, our overriding concern is the health of our children; their exposure to lead at school must be stopped. Every action needed to achieve this goal must be taken in a comprehensive, expeditious, and transparent manner,’’ states the letter, signed by 25 parents. “Thus far, however, the school district’s actions do not inspire trust on any of these dimensions.’’
The parents are urging “expedient and comprehensive’’ testing of all faucets and water fountains in all Newton schools by an independent third party on a regular basis.
All bubblers at Burr have been shut off since last month, when tests conducted across the school system found high lead levels at a water fountain at the elementary school.
Additional test results released June 1 showed lead levels above the standard for safe drinking water at five of Burr’s seven water fountains. Even higher levels were detected in samples taken directly from pipes leading to the fountains.
Dr. Dori Zaleznik, the city’s chief operating officer, said officials are now focused on finding and correcting the source of lead in the water at Burr.
“We’re not ready to say we will begin testing every school every year because we are still concentrating on what’s happening at Burr,’’ Zaleznik said Tuesday. “Once that is remediated, there can be an informed discussion, and we can come up with a thoughtful plan.’’
Burr parents speaking Monday night before the School Committee questioned why more was not done to correct problems found in 2005 and 2010 when water from a faucet at the school tested above the safe threshold established by the state Department of Environmental Affairs.
On Tuesday, Michael Cronin, chief of operations for the schools, provided an e-mail exchange and letter from the state Department of Environmental Protection that shows remediation was done within three months of the testing performed in September 2010.
Until this year, the city followed state requirements and tested two water sources in two schools on a rotating basis once a year, Zaleznik said. After highly publicized reports about the contaminated water supply in Flint, Mich., and elsewhere, Newton officials decided to test all 23 schools this year.
Burr was the only school with results exceeding the safety standard. Water from drinking fountains at Horace Mann and Ward elementary schools showed levels close to the threshold of 15 parts per billion, however, so they will be retested as a precaution, Zaleznik said.
“This is a really high priority for us and for our partners in the city, we are expediting test results and trying to pinpoint the source of the lead at Burr,’’ said Fleishman, the superintendent. “Once we identify the source, a plan will be put in place that will be clearly communicated with the community.’’
More information will be available and parents’ will have an opportunity to ask questions at a community meeting at the Burr School on Monday, June 13, at 7 p.m.
Ellen Ishkanian can be reached at eishkanian@gmail.com.
