Special Education

Lead Testing of Drinking Water

To: All staff, Parents, and guardians of NYSSD Students
From: David Hubman, Superintendent
Re: Lead testing
Date: November 9, 2016

In reaction to the lead contamination discovered in Flint Michigan last spring, the Governor, State Legislature, and the Commissioner of Education have required every school in New York State to conduct lead testing of any and all sources of water in and on the facility.  In compliance with that requirement we hired Pace Analytical to conduct our testing.  Testing was conducted on Friday and Saturday October 14th and 15th.

Stage 1 of the test was to flush all the sources, let the water sit idle for 8 hours and then to draw 1 sample from each source.  In total we tested 236 sources including sinks, and water fountains in all buildings including the dormitory area.  The samples were then taken to the lab where lead specific tests were conducted. 

We have received the results, and 65 of our sources had elevated levels of lead of more than 15 parts per billion of lead in the water.  Drinking water fountains are no longer in service until a remedy is in place.  In addition faucets are prominently displaying signs notifying students and staff that the faucet is for hand washing only.

Our next step to address the problem is to take a second sample from the 65 that failed to identify if the source of the lead is in the device, or in the piping leading to the faucet or spigot.  Once we have those results, further corrective action will take place, including replacing spigots and faucets and/ or pipe lines and valves. 

We are required to post all results of our testing on our website which can be found below. Upon completion of the 2nd phase of the corrective action, we will update you through a letter and information on our web site. In the meantime if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at david.hubman@nysed.gov. I want to reassure you we are giving this issue all the attention necessary to keep out students, staff, and visitors safe.

 

Last Updated: February 21, 2017