Seven drinking fountains at Princeton elementary schools have excessive levels of lead
The Princeton Public Schools informed parents April 2 that seven drinking fountains at the district’s four elementary schools have excessive levels of lead.
Under New Jersey Department of Education educational facilities regulations, all school districts in the state are required to test school drinking water for lead during the 2024-25 school year and submit a statement of assurance to the NJDOE.
Drinking water outlets must be tested every three years. School districts must make the test results of all water samples publicly available at the school and on the school district website.
Districts must also provide written notification to the parents of all students and staff attending the facility, as well as to the state Department of Education. The written notification must also be posted on the district’s website and must include a description of measures taken by the district to immediately end the use of each drinking water outlet where water quality exceeds the permissible lead action level, along with any additional remedial actions taken or planned by the district.
One water fountain at Community Park Elementary School, one at Riverside Elementary School, two at Littlebrook Elementary and three at Johnson Park Elementary School have levels that exceed limits. The most recent testing for the Princeton Public Schools was posted on the district’s website on a facilities department page on March 26.
Two dozen fountains in school district buildings were not tested because the fountains were either out of order, disabled, covered, or were “low flow.”
In an April 2 letter to parents, Interim Superintendent of Schools Kathie Foster apologized for not informing parents of the issue sooner.
“The seven fountains have been turned off, drinking water is accessible through bottle filling stations, and the older, nonworking fountains will be replaced,” Foster wrote. “Water will be tested again to ascertain its safety before the fountains will be approved for use by students and staff.”
According to Foster, the email containing the test data was delivered to one staff member, which resulted in the delayed communication.
“Going forward, the district will stipulate that test results of this kind be sent to multiple parties,” Foster wrote. “As part of our sustainability efforts, we are replacing water fountains with bottle filling stations, and we encourage students and staff to bring reusable water bottles to school.”
Foster apologized for the delay. “Please know that we truly care about the safety and well-being of our students and staff and understand the importance of timely communication,” she wrote. “My colleagues and I resolve that we will all do better in the future.”
Lead is a neurotoxin that can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system and the brain. It poses a particular danger to infants and children and can impair their cognitive development, cause behavioral disorders and lead to lower IQs. But the damage it incurs is slow-moving and hard to detect.
New Jersey has set a minimum level of 15 parts per billion to trigger action in schools, but experts warn that no level of lead exposure is safe, no matter how minimal. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 1 part per billion in drinking water for children. Some states have reduced the threshold for remediation based on such recommendations, including Missouri and Colorado. Both states changed their laws in 2022 to require remediation when lead in school drinking water exceeds 5 parts per billion.
In 2018, Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a $100 million plan to eliminate the alarming amount of lead leaching into the drinking water of public schools in the state. An investigation by The Jersey Vindicator found that the plan never got off the ground, leaving countless thousands of New Jersey students still exposed to the toxic dangers of lead every day.
Wondering if children who were potentially exposed should be tested or if the school will be testing the kids.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in referendums and Princeton has not initiated proper measures to protect its schoolchildren from lead poisoning?! This story should provide and explanation by a medical professional that lead accumulates, the symptoms of lead poisoning, testing necessary and how lead is removed from the body through chelation or other means and hopefully before settling in organs. The roulette of superintendents and the school board members should be held accountable for the lack of oversight and action to protect students from harm. City schools have taken appropriate action to prevent toxins in school water yet Princeton has not? Terrible. Parents, please speak to your pediatricians.
It should also be noted that while 7 drinking fountains were above the EPA “actionable” level of 15 µg/L, any exposure to lead is consider unsafe. The majority of water fountains in our elementary schools exceed the EPA’s “Maximum Contaminant Level Goal” (the level at which there are no negative health effects), which is 0 µg/L.