Fewer than half of those surveyed did testing; of those that did, more than a third found elevated levels.
And a more recent report, “Get the Lead Out,” from the Environment America Research and Policy Center gave Pennsylvania an F for having no requirements that schools address lead in drinking water.
This year, however, school districts across Pennsylvania will have to test for lead in drinking water — or inform the community they will not — according to an amended school code that’s part of the new state budget.
The language in the school code was based on a bill from state Sen. Art Haywood, who started working on the issue after visiting Flint during its water crisis in 2014.
Haywood plans to work with other lawmakers on a mandatory testing measure that would include state funding for the analysis.
Philadelphia City Council passed an ordinance at the end of 2016 that requires the city school district to test for lead in drinking water and require city certification.
“We’re an old state, so we have a lot of old buildings.” Old buildings often have lead pipes and plumbing that carry — and contaminate — drinking water.
“It just shocks every parent I talk to that there are no federal requirements for testing or reporting for lead in drinking water for schools, and no legal threshold for this neurotoxin in the very places our kids go to learn and grow,” she said.
Disclosure needs to be mandatory, Wein said, adding that, nationally, only 59 percent parents were informed of what districts found.
A lot of school districts can’t afford that, but installing lead-certified filters to bring the level down in the water is a really pretty cost-effective solution,” she said.