Milwaukee Public Schools Lead Hazards Grow

The Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) district plans to inspect all elementary schools built before 1978 for lead before the start of the next school year. The announcement came in the district’s Lead Action Plan on April 28. MPS has 54 elementary schools built before 1950 in the district and 52 built between 1950 and 1978. Lead-based paint was banned by the federal government in 1978. Lead dust is often formed as lead paint chips and wears down, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Along with the school inspection plan, the district also announced the closure of two more MPS schools due to lead hazards in the buildings.

Lead hazards have been found in nine MPS schools so far, and four district students have tested positive for lead poisoning. The newest closings involved two elementary schools, Brown Street Academy and Westside Academy. A visual assessment released by the Milwaukee Health Department found lead dust hazards on the floors and horizontal surfaces in both buildings. The assessment also identified chipping and peeling paint in the properties.

Four MPS schools have already temporarily closed due to lead hazards. Two have since reopened, while the other two are still closed while lead remediation work continues. Lead cleanup work has already cost the district nearly US$2 million, NPR reported.

No amount of lead in the blood is safe for children, and the CDC has found that children under the age of 6 are the most at risk of lead poisoning.

As CMM previously reported, the CDC has rejected a request from Milwaukee health officials for help with the lead poisoning investigation, after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eliminated the agency’s response team amidst mass firings across multiple federal health agencies.