Lead in Milwaukee schools; testing underway, district's maintenance plan due
MPS lead testing underway
So far, the Milwaukee Health Department has closed seven schools at different points due to unsafe lead levels.
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) has just two days left to figure out a long-term plan for lead issues that closed several of the district's buildings.
Lead screening results
What we know:
On Saturday, March 15, the Milwaukee Health Department (MHD), MPS, Children’s Wisconsin, and Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers held a free lead screening clinic at Bradley Tech High School. A total of 249 children were screened for lead exposure.
MHD confirmed on Wednesday evening that:
- A very small number of children tested above the CDC’s reference value of 3.5 µg/dL, and some of them do not attend MPS schools.
- These cases were low enough that they did not require nursing case management from MHD.
- 91% of children screened were from the originally targeted schools (Golda Meir Lower Campus, Kagel, Maryland Avenue Montessori, Trowbridge, Starms Early Childhood Center, Fernwood, and LaFollette).
Addressing the risk
What we know:
On Monday, March 17, new MPS superintendent Brenda Cassellius said lead is her number one priority. This, as the district's deadline looms to get a long-term maintenance plan to the Milwaukee Health Department.
MPS lead update reveals test results
The Milwaukee Health Department released new numbers on lead testing.
The long-term plan is supposed to include how MPS will address lead concerns in the remaining 85 schools built before 1978.
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On Monday, Cassellius said she hopes to appoint someone to be a liaison to deal with all things lead.
What they're saying:
"I am working with someone now who can be my right hand in getting to the bottom of it; who has operational experience in the background so that we can have one point of contact with our city and state providers to make sure that it is really clear," Cassellius said.
Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius
Health department monitoring
What we know:
So far, the Milwaukee Health Department has closed seven schools at different points due to unsafe lead levels. This week, seven more schools are having visual inspections.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it plans to assist MPS with lead assessments over the next two weeks.
MPS lead exposure; student screening clinics as doctors warn of decline
Doctors are warning of a drop in child lead testing as Milwaukee Public Schools closed several buildings due to unsafe levels of lead.
Again, MPS has until Friday, March 21 to get its long-term maintenance plan to the Milwaukee Health Department.
Getting tested
Local perspective:
Sixteenth Street Community Health Center - Chavez Clinic held a pop-up lead testing clinic on Wednesday, March 19.
Abby Gorecki is the Vice President of Community Health at Sixteenth Street.
"It’s very important to get your child tested for lead," she said. "It’s just a simple little poke to the finger, we collect a blood sample and then analyze those samples to understand what the blood lead level is."
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10-year-old Isla Walsh was one of about 30 kids from Fernwood Montessori School to get tested at the pop-up clinic. Her school recently closed due to lead hazards.
"She talked to me so that kind of distracted me from the pain, so that definitely helped," Walsh said afterward. "Definitely knowing that my answer was negative. That was probably the best, most reassuring thing."
More screening clinics
What you can do:
Families can take advantage of additional free pop-up clinics in the coming weeks. A full list of upcoming screening opportunities is available at milwaukee.gov/MPS-Lead and mpsmke.com/mpsleadreport.
The Source: The information in this post was provided by Milwaukee Public Schools, the Milwaukee Health Department and previous FOX6 News coverage.