Leaders of Milwaukee Public Schools say the district will clean up lead contamination in 54 schools built before 1950 by the start of next school year.
That news comes as families at Westside Academy have learned their school will be closing May 5, and Brown Street Academy families learned that school will close May 12 for cleaning. Students at both schools will be relocated to Andrew S. Douglas Middle School during cleanup.
Things are in flux around the city right now.
Fernwood Montessori reopened last week, while Starms Early Childhood Center and LaFolette school remain closed for cleaning. Students at the closed schools have been temporarily reassigned to other buildings.
MPS Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius says she hopes to have Starms and LaFollette reopened before the school year ends on June 13. It’ll be a big push in a project that’s grown by massive proportions.
“More than 100 of our school buildings were built before 1978, which was when lead paint was banned in this country. We assume all of those schools have lead in them," she says. "But that does not necessarily mean there’s danger. Lead is in lots of places, including some of our homes. It becomes a danger when it is disturbed.”
Cassellius says the district will clean all pre-1950 schools this spring and summer. Then, it will move onto the 52 schools built between 1950 and 1978. She says she hopes cleaning in those schools will be done by the end of this calendar year.
MPS has spent $2 million on lead remediation projects so far
Cassellius says the total lead remediation project has cost the district $2 million so far. Cassellius couldn’t say how much the entire project will cost, but said she’s accelerating the timeline.
“Starting in May, rather than waiting until the end of the school year, gives our team the ability to complete this work well in advance of the next school year and also allows us to work on other buildings over the summer," she says.
The average age of a school building in the US is 49 years. But in MPS, the average school is 82 years old.
Most hazards here arise from chipped lead paint, which leaves a fine dust on windowsills and in floor boards. Students can eat the chipped paint or breathe in the lead dust. Both lead to contamination.
Milwaukee Health Commissioner Michael Totaraitis says that with the discovery of dangerous lead levels in schools, the department is rethinking its lead poisoning testing schedule.
"So our recommendations are essentially annually up until the age of six," he says. "But now we’re weighing what’s going on right now in the city as to whether or not we need to revise potential testing recommendations beyond the age of six.”
Wisconsin Congresswoman, Senator call out Trump admin for CDC layoffs of childhood lead unit
Milwaukee originally asked for help from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to run its testing and screening clinics. After layoffs at the agency by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the request was denied. The CDC no longer has staff working on childhood lead poisoning prevention.
“It would be really nice to pick up the phone and call them. Unfortunately, they’re gone," he says.
Last week, U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore and Sen. Tammy Baldwin sent a letter to the Trump administration admonishing its decision to make cuts at the CDC. The letter said Wisconsin children at risk for lead poisoning should not “bear the burden” of the government’s restructuring plan. Here’s Congresswoman Moore.
“There’s no waste. There’s no fraud. There’s no abuse. There’s lead poisoning," Moore says. "Just to say we’re going to start cutting things, anything that costs anything. It’s haphazard. There’s no thought. If they were thinking, they would not have cut this unit.”
Moore says she fears for the health and safety of all Milwaukee children, including her grandchildren who attend MPS schools.
Although MPS has a plan, Milwaukee students will continue to be displaced as cleanup continues.
In the fall, they hope to return to campuses where they won’t be poisoned.
Milwaukee's next lead poisoning screening event will be May 7
When: Wednesday, May 7 from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Where: North Division High School at 1011 W. Center St. Milwaukee, WI 53206
What: In partnership with Milwaukee Public Schools, Sixteenth Street Clinic, and Children's Wisconsin, the City of Milwaukee Health Department will host its second lead screening clinic for MPS students.
Katherine Kokal is the education reporter at 89.7 WUWM - Milwaukee's NPR. Have a question about schools or an education story idea? You can reach her at kokal@uwm.edu
