As the Scranton School District tests for lead in drinking water, state investigators visited multiple schools Friday.
After testing, officials placed a sign on at least one sink at Prescott Elementary School, warning people not to drink the water. The district has not disclosed which schools may have issues or why the water quality could be part of the ongoing criminal investigation.
“Once the district receives all the final reports we will post the results and respective responses on our district website and forward to the Pennsylvania Department of Education,” Superintendent Melissa McTiernan wrote in an email. “The district’s top concern is the safety of its students. We are remediating all known deficiencies in the water and its receptacles.”
A state law enacted in 2018 requires schools to test for lead in their drinking water or to disclose at a public meeting that testing is not being done. If lead exceeds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s national primary drinking water standard of 15 parts per billion, the district must implement a plan to ensure that no child or adult is exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water and provide alternate sources of drinking water.
Scranton School Board President Katie Gilmartin said the district is taking the “appropriate precautions” with the testing, which she said is district-wide.
“As problems arise, they are being addressed,” she said.
Rosemary Boland, president of the Scranton Federation of Teachers, heard from union members Friday who worried they had washed their hands at sinks or occasionally drank a glass of water from where the district has now placed warnings.
“These questions need to be answered,” Boland said. “This is extremely important. This is a severe health issue.”
Lead can cause serious health problems if too much enters the body from drinking water or other sources. It can cause damage to the brain and kidneys, and the greatest risk of lead exposure is to infants, young children and pregnant women. Scientists have linked the effects of lead with lowered IQ in children, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Many Scranton schools shut off drinking fountains years ago, providing water coolers for students and staff.
In June 2016, the district announced it had shut down eight water fountains and 11 sinks after test results showed elevated lead levels in the water. Testing by Guzek Associates of Clarks Summit showed that no lead was present in the water entering the district’s 19 school buildings. Instead, the affected fountains and sinks contained old brass or bronze fittings, which caused the water to become tainted as it sat in the pipes. Affected schools were West Scranton, South Scranton and Northeast intermediate schools and Prescott, Bancroft, Robert Morris, Neil Armstrong and McNichols Plaza elementary schools.
The district had tested the water in 2016 after the widespread contamination in Flint, Michigan, and officials had planned to replace the brass or bronze fittings in the affected places that summer. It is unclear whether that work was completed.
“All reports are being reviewed for compliance and if any deficiency is found, it will be remediated and reported,” McTiernan said.
As part of the ongoing criminal investigation of the district, state agents have examined the district’s contract with DeNaples Transportation, including suspected tampering with public records, and circumstances surrounding the dismissal of former Principal Gwendolyn Damiano. In September, the judge supervising the statewide grand jury investigation ordered people involved with the district not to obstruct justice or intimidate or retaliate against witnesses.
The investigation has resulted in two arrests and guilty pleas so far. Former fleet manager Daniel Sansky
, who admitted to overbilling district taxpayers and charging the district for work on the personal vehicles of its employees, received a prison sentence of six to 23½ months in September. Gregg Sunday
, the former business manager, pleaded guilty in March to one felony charge — conflict of interest, restricted activities — for his role and received a sentence of three years of probation.
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