As residents of Flint, Michigan, continue to live without drinkable water flowing from their pipes, a new round of testing found elevated lead levels in the water of public schools.
According to a report published by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the approximate 4,500 children enrolled in the Flint Community Schools (FSC), the city’s public school system, attend class in buildings with potentially contaminated water.
Overall, lead of varying amounts was detected in 44.5 percent of the samples tested throughout the school district, and 4 percent were over the federal action limit.
The state-sponsored testing is the final round of data gathering before a decision is made by Michigan officials as to whether the state will continue to provide free bottled water for Flint residents.
Per MLive: FSC has its own agreement with private companies, including Walmart, to supply bottled water to students until at least the end of the current school year.
The state currently spends $22,000 per day on bottled water for the city’s residents—56.6 percent of whom are Black, with 41.2 percent living below the poverty line.
The water crisis was prompted by an April 2014 decision by the city to switch Flint’s water source from the Great Lakes Water Authority to the Flint River.
Four years after the crisis began, the city still lacks water that is safe to consume directly from the tap.
Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $100 million grant to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to fund drinking water infrastructure upgrades in Flint.
“We are excited and very grateful to receive these much needed funds,” said Weaver in a statement at the time of the announcement.