Audit finds Queens schools with high lead levels, calls on DOE to improve response time
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Water fountains in Queens schools were among thousands citywide with high lead levels but the Department of Education failed to act quickly to address the issues, a new audit found. Photo via Joshme17/Flickr
By Rachel Vick
A new audit from Comptroller Scott Stringer found that hundreds of Queens schools had fixtures containing elevated levels of lead between 2016 and 2019.
Among Stringer’s criticisms of the Department of Education that a total of 4,263 fixtures across 418 schools tested to have lead levels above the recommended limit and that a number of repairs were not completed with urgency.
“The DOE must improve its lead inspection and remediation processes to ensure lead is detected and addressed immediately,” Stringer said. “Our children and school staff deserve nothing less.”
Citywide, 84 percent of schools — over 1,300 — were found to contain lead levels above the federal limit of 15 parts per billion, with Queens institutions coming in second behind Brooklyn, which had the most contaminated fixtures.
Lead exposure can lead to hyperactivity and reduced IQ in children and increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adults.
Stringer issued a series of 19 recommendations, including improving timeliness by tracking different stages of repairs and improving safety by retesting frequently.
The report acknowledges that the DOE largely met the standards and that they have their own standing protocols but maintains that the agency’s “assertions do not undercut the audit’s findings.”
DOE spokesperson Sarah Casasnovas told the Eagle that the report risks creating unnecessary fear among parents, students and staff and that repairs are complete from all testing cycles except 2020, which are still being addressed and on track for completion.
Any fixture found to pose a risk is immediately taken offline and does not pose a risk to students or staff, the DOE said.
“The health and safety of our students, teachers and staff are our top priority, and our schools are in full compliance with State regulations regarding water quality,” Casasnovas said. “We’ve gone above and beyond what is required by State law – we tested over 150,000 potable water fixtures in public, charter, and non-public school buildings citywide, and any fixture that was found to pose a risk was immediately removed from service.”
