Medford, Ore. — After lead was recently discovered in Portland public schools, state education and health officials are recommending that all public schools in the state test their water for lead this summer. The Medford School District Spokeswoman Natalie Hurd said they’ve been conducting water tests in their schools annually for the last decade.
Voters passed a bond measure in 2006 allowing the district to test every water fixture in their schools for lead. Hurd said every summer since they’ve continued to do what they call “spot” testing by inspecting a number of water sources in their schools.
In 2008 the district redid the plumbing system at Jefferson Elementary School after tests showed elevated lead levels in their water. Hurd said each school has 60 to 100 water fixtures, and it costs $10 to test each one. The money comes out of their general maintenance budget.
“You know we strongly believe that our procedures that are currently in place are keeping students and staff safe and that’s our top priority because we want students to be able to learn and they have to be healthy,” Hurd said.
If the district finds elevated levels of lead in any water source Hurd said they put a filter on the source, replace it with lead free components, or take it out completely. The school district will go back through all their schools this summer to test every water source.
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