At the primary public meeting since high lead levels were discovered at 22 Oakland Unified State College schools, district officials condemned the shortage of communication, pointed the finger at those responsible and asked for extra funding and resources.
“The delayed communication of lead test results was completely unacceptable. I sincerely apologize for the stress and anxiety this has caused to our schools, our students and their families,” said district schools Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “We take full responsibility, including a full personnel investigation, for the deficiencies and are committed to ensuring such failures do not occur in the future.”
The district made headlines last week when it announced that prime levels of lead had been present in nearly 200 faucets and fountains within the district's public schools.
Faucets in nearly two dozen schools contained lead levels above the state and federal limit of 15 parts per billion, the district said. And while the district said a lot of the 1,083 faucets tested met Oakland Unified's stricter limit — 5 parts per billion — 70 water coolers and taps also were above the state and federal limit.
A faucet within the cafeteria at Cleveland Elementary School had a lead level of 480 parts per billion, while a kitchen sink at Edna Brewer Middle School had a lead level of 540 parts per billion.
The district's results sparked outrage amongst community members, who expressed concern about how long it took officials to notify families and staff of the test results.
District leaders said at Wednesday's meeting that a median of 62 days passed between receiving water samples and notifying sites. They described the delay in communication as a confidential personnel matter that’s currently under investigation.
The meeting on Wednesday evening, attended by greater than 100 parents, students and staff, featured over an hour of vitriolic comments from the general public and at times downright chaos.
Board members struggled to manage the group, which shouted back during officials' statements and exceeded the one-minute limit per speaker – at the same time as district leaders moved to chop off their microphones.
Community members criticized the district for failing to deal with the “historic” problem of lead in schools' drinking water and for putting the blame on “lower-level personnel.” Yet that very same evening, the district was scheduled to renew the superintendent's nearly $400,000 contract.
“The most heartbreaking thing I had to tell my kids was that the water is not safe to drink,” said Chris Jackson, a special education teacher at Fremont High School. “The fact is, we don't just need good, clear communication. We need good, clear water.”
Board Vice President Mike Hutchinson said the elevated lead levels are attributable to the district's “aging infrastructure” and college facilities, which he said are on average 50 years old.
Hutchinson also called on the town and county to help the district in repairing and improving facilities.
“We need help from the state and federal government to improve our infrastructure,” Hutchinson said. “Our local infrastructure bonds can't get us out of this… We need everyone on board. We don't have the money… to fix this right away.”
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