DETROIT — About 50,000 Detroit public school students started the school year on Tuesday by drinking water from coolers, not fountains, after the discovery of elevated levels of lead or copper — the latest setback in a state already dealing with the consequences of contaminated tap water in Flint and other communities.
Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti expects the closure of water fountains and other drinking fixtures in all 106 schools to go smoothly because the district — Michigan’s largest — had previously turned off the tap in 18 schools.
“With the water coming from the water coolers, they just trust it more and are drinking it more.” Detroit is not the first major school district to switch to bottled water.
Now, look at the water here.
Vitti, who took over in Detroit in 2017 after the district had been under state management for years, said it is “preposterous” that schools are not forced to test for lead and that Detroit’s problems are reflective of inequities in urban America and a lack of spending on infrastructure.
“You can test the water coming into a building,” he said.
Water-quality issues have been identified at some water outlets in 34 Detroit schools.
Only eight states require lead-in-water testing in schools and Michigan is not among them.
Republican Gov.
Democratic-backed bills have not advanced in the GOP-led Legislature, but a hearing held in June indicates they could come up again.