
Milwaukee announces additional school closures and new plan to address lead paint hazards as contamination crisis deepens
CNN
Milwaukee announced Monday the temporary closure of two more schools as the city works to address a lead crisis in its public schools.
Milwaukee announced Monday the temporary closure of two more schools as the city works to address a lead crisis in its public schools. The district is also presenting an updated plan to tackle the flaking and chalking paint in aging buildings that’s suspected to be the cause of elevated blood lead levels in four students this year. The new school closures impact elementary schools, Westside Academy, and the Brown Street School. Two other elementary schools also remain closed: Starms Early Childhood Education Center and LaFollette School. In total, the Milwaukee public school district has announced the closure of nine schools so far this year to address lead hazards. The city’s school district and health department are in the process of inspecting nearly 100 buildings in the district that were built before 1978, the year lead was banned from paint. They expect the work to continue through the summer. The new lead plan outlines the process the district will follow to assess and remediate its schools. It starts with a visual inspection of each building, and based on that, the building will be classified as low, medium or high risk. Schools at medium and high risk will receive additional testing for lead and could be subject to full or partial closures for abatement. It also says the schools are developing a plan to test adults that might be exposed to lead in schools, such as custodians. The city has also trying to screen more students for lead in their blood. They had been working with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a testing strategy when the agency’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program was cut, leaving the city without federal help.

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