MPS Closing Three More Schools Due To Lead Hazards

Fernwood Montessori School. Photo by Dave Reid.

When one door opens, three more close.

Milwaukee Public Schools, according to an email obtained by Urban Milwaukee, will close Starms Early Childhood Center, Fernwood Montessori School and Robert M. LaFollette School due to “significant lead hazards identified during MHD inspections this week.”

The revelation comes one day after the district announced it would be able to reopen one school closed for nearly two weeks for lead abatement work. The district has been plagued by revelations of serious lead hazards since February, as a result of the Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) expanding its investigations to schools when children who tested positive for elevated blood lead levels were experiencing reductions from home-centric abatement efforts.

The latest closures are to start Monday, March 17.

MHD, in a press conference last Friday, announced it would be visually inspecting 10 more schools after previously doing full assessments at five schools. Rising costs were cited as a key driver for not doing more substantial assessments, but even visual assessments were sufficient to trigger the closure of the latest three schools.

“These closures are necessary to allow for comprehensive remediation and cleaning efforts to ensure a safe environment for students and staff. While we understand that these changes are disruptive, they are critical steps to protecting the health of students and staff in MPS buildings,” says the email.

A letter specific to Fernwood cites “unsafe remediation work.”

Students and staff at each of the schools are to report to different schools. The district’s full week spring break is to occur in two weeks.

Letters specific to each school say the closures are being made out of an “abundance of caution” and that no additional lead poisioned children have been identified at the schools.

MPS and the health department temporarily closed Trowbridge School of Great Lakes Studies starting March 3 following a health department site visit that found an employee scraping a surface with lead paint without any containment. Lab analysis of approximately 160 swabs from other locations in the building, including those previously appropriately abated for lead paint, found lead dust levels in excess of acceptable levels. The Trowbridge closure, according to MHD officials, was the first Milwaukee school ever ordered to be closed for a lead-related issue.

The school was given approval to reopen starting Friday, March 14.

MHD, in assessments, has also identified lead hazards at Maryland Avenue Montessori School, Golda Meir School‘s Lower Campus and Albert E. Kagel School. Abatement work in those schools has been completed, according to the email, with Kagel clearing a safety screening, Golda Meir undergoing a re-check and Maryland only currently failing in a janitor’s closet.

A clinic, the first of several, is scheduled for Saturday for parents and staff members concerned about lead exposure to be tested. Children are to be tested annually up to the age of six, but MHD officials said last Friday that only 40% actually are. More information on upcoming clinics and the specific investigations is available on the MHD website.

The district’s lead-safe practices have come under question during the series of revelations that started in February. In successive press conferences, interim school administrative officer Michael Harris said the district is committed to retraining its workers.

No amount of lead is safe, and the heavy metal poses a substantial risk for children, who can experience developmental delays, learning difficulties, behavioral problems and other serious health issues.

The impacted schools are not clustered in a single geographic area, with Starms at 2616 W. Garfield Ave., Fernwood at 3239 S. Pennsylvania Ave. and LaFollette at 3239 N. 9th St. Their similarity is that they are all in buildings that are approximately 100 years old. Fernwood is the newest, having been built in 1928.

Buildings built before 1978, which includes most MPS schools and homes in the city, are subject to having lead paint.

The city previously replaced all lead service lines connecting schools to the city’s water system, but internal lead plumbing remains in some schools. City health officials have long maintained that lead poisoning occurs most frequently locally from lead-based paint.

According to a MHD email sent at the same time this article was published, other schools tested this week include Hopkins Lloyd Brown Street Academy, Doerfler Elementary, Longfellow Elementary, Westside Academy, Auer Avenue School and Franklin Elementary.

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