It's back to school week

Try to stay hydrated.

The process started in July 2016. Local officials teamed up to announce they would test school water for lead. School officials commissioned a plan to test 10 schools for $24,336. If any positive results were returned, then they would test like-schools and fixtures.

Then-superintendent of the Recovery School District, Patrick Dobard, shared the plans with the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans in August 2016. According to emails and documents reviewed by The Lens, the water agency wanted school district administrators to allow more lead in the water before taking a fixture out of service.

The water system uses a threshold of 15 parts per billion. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends taking a school drinking fountain out of service if it shows more than 20 parts per billion of lead. But there is no safe level of lead, and children are especially susceptible to lead poisoning.  The schools initially set a threshold of 10 parts per billion. After the Sewerage and Water Board questioned their reasoning, it was raised to 15. Both levels are substantially higher than the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendation to shut off any school water fountain with a lead level higher than one part per billion.

The Sewerage & Water Board wanted to take its own samples, causing the schools’ testing consultant to wonder if they would end up with dueling test results. But school officials decided to scrap the plan altogether and go with what experts said was the safest and most cost-effective option — water filters.

Also a reminder that The Lens is one of our last best outlets for investigative reporting in a city that very badly needs it. They are member supported.  Over the weekend they sent out email notifications to members with the subject line "Save The Lens" so that sounds like they could use some help about now.