The lead levels in OUSD’s water systems have warranted action in 40 schools, including Oakland Tech. Schools were not notified until August of this year, about the dangerous numbers found last April. Lead contamination causes irreversible neurological and nervous system damage, which the youth are particularly susceptible to, as they are still developing.
Even after releasing the information, OUSD isn’t being transparent about test results. OUSD’s action-requirement starts at a level 5 of ppb (parts per billion). Even though OUSD claims that they are being more cautious than the national guidelines, which is set at 15 ppb, OUSD failed to take any action for several months, even when a sink at Lincoln Elementary came back at over 930 ppb.
As of October 8th, the Biden-Harris Administration now requires the entire nation’s lead pipes to be replaced within 10 years. The Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) requires the lowering of the lead action-level, implementing more rigorous testing of drinking water, and improving the communication of test results. This way, communities will be more informed about risks, location of the pipes, and the plans for replacements. Additionally, the Administration gave the state $269 million to help California schools and homes towards the goal.
Thanks to community members demanding action, OUSD has put two FloWater stations (water filtration systems) in every school. Get the Lead Out, a coalition between OUSD teachers, students, and community members, say that OUSD isn’t doing enough. One of their complaints is that not all the sinks or fountains were tested for lead at Tech. Ms. Hare, the Sol House Biology teacher, tested the water at multiple water sources around the school herself. The tests didn’t show positive lead levels because the water tested all under 100 ppb, but Ms. Hare found surprisingly low levels of pH in the water.
Ms. Hare explained, “when [the pH is] really low, … it will corrode the metal [in the pipes], which would lead us to have lead, if we don’t have it now, …”
Ms. Hare is now re-testing the pH-levels with more accurate pH tests to ensure the accuracy of the results.
Ms. Hare isn’t the only one who has been involved in the fight to get rid of the lead in our water systems. A coalition between OUSD teachers, students, and community members called Get the Lead Out is also doing work to solve the lead issue. We spoke to Alex Bledsoe, a community member from Fruitvale who got involved with the coalition in 2017 after learning about the high lead levels affecting low-income communities in Oakland.
“This coalition formed so we can hold OUSD accountable for making sure that students, staff, and community members have access to safe drinking water at all of the schools,” Alex Bledsoe explained.
Despite OUSD’s efforts to install FloWater Stations at all of its schools, the Oakland Tech Upper Campus was still having issues. All the water fountains were closed off, leading students to rely on the Wendy’s restaurant for a quick water pick-up on their way to and from their classes. On October 21, they brought a new FloWater Station to the site after receiving an email from Oakland Tech principal Mr. Price about the issue. However, OUSD has not released test results from this site as of now.
On October 16th, OUSD released a new message about the situation to ParentSquare. Looking forward, “… the District plans to install 88 more FloWater systems across the District to further increase that access [to clean water].”
Unfortunately, installing FloWater stations does not address the root problem. When asked about the issue, Mr. Price worried, “I don’t think it’s just a Tech problem…this is a district issue…it’s a couple million dollar issue”.