There is good news for parents concerned about their child’s school environment.
Richard Gaines of the Special Advisory Board headed over the St. Louis Public Schools said the board approved about $5.4 million to abate lead in 25 elementary schools, with work already getting started. All elementary schools should be lead free by the beginning of next school year, he said.
The district has not yet solidified a funding source, but hopes to use federal stimulus money to complete the work. Right now, money is coming from the district’s regular operations budget.
“We are pursuing other means that cannot be discussed publicly at this time in addition to stimulus funds,” Gaines said.
Byron Clemens, vice president of AFT St. Louis Local 420, touted the decision to clean up hazardous materials in schools as a step in the right direction.
“It’s a great victory for the students and employees,” he said. “The health and safety of our students is always our first job.”
Gaines said the district became aware of the lead problem and its significance in the last five months.
In part because a group of concerned parents worked to put the issue back on public agenda. Two dozen people rallied outside of Roe Elementary School in December to demand that dangerous paint be removed from all grade schools after the YMCA of Greater St. Louis said it could not accept preschool-age children into a before- and after-school care program there after a state inspection showed lead.
Children under age 6 are particularly at risk for harmful health effects from peeling paint, which they may ingest through lead dust or paint chips. Because their brains and nervous systems are still developing, too much lead exposure can lead to learning and behavioral problems and nervous system and brain damage.
“We had a parent who came before the school board about four weeks ago that said one of her children had an elevated lead level found in her body and they contributed it to one of her schools,” Gaines said.
Roger CayCe, executive director of operations, said the issue of lead paint on windows and fences is a concern in many schools in the district. Many of them were built before 1978, the year lead was found to cause negative health effects in children.
CayCe said the district does spot repairs when a concern is raised and a facilities team inspects buildings weekly.
“We will work to remove any and all hazardous materials that will impact students and staff,” CayCe said. “That covers the whole gamut: mold, peeling paint, penguin droppings.”
The district devised a list in 2004 of schools and prioritized them for lead abatement after findings from an inspection by the City of St. Louis revealed high levels of lead in schools.
CayCe said the assessment was not thorough enough in that it did not include many instances that peeling paint were discovered.
At the time, the district had been abating four or five schools per year, but the SAB put a hold on abatement last year because of budget constraints.
In October, CayCe and Assistant Superintendent of Operations Deanna Anderson brought a recommendation to the SAB seeking to reinstate the lead abatement program for $2.8 million.
Gaines made a motion to abate all the schools at once.
“We cannot have children in these schools where it is unsafe,” Gaines said. “No matter what else you do in education, you have to make sure the kids are safe.”
Twenty-eight elementary schools had been on the district’s list for lead abatement, based on the 2004 findings, but three of them are slated to close thus cutting the number to 25.
The new program calls for remediating lead on outdoor gym equipment, playgrounds, stairwells, foyers, restrooms, corridors, gymnasiums, classrooms and cafeterias.
The windows will be replaced entirely, Gaines said, upping costs to about $5.4 million for inspection, evaluation, oversight and removal.
By replacing them, the district would be removing lead and saving energy, CayCe said.
Before, workers were using special vacuums with filters to trap lead dust around doors and playgrounds at all elementary schools.
Outside workers would need to be brought in for abatement.
Clemens said not only would removing lead improve student health but also address student achievement.
“We know that school achievement goes up by 20 to 28 percent in schools that are part of these community schools, that have greened, LEED certified and cleaned up,” he said.
Carol Prombo, a lecturer of earth and planetary sciences at Washington University, says lead dust is also a source of lead poisoning. Although there has long been concern that children eat chips of lead-based paint that flake off walls, ceilings and windows, she says it is just as easy for children who play on the floor to get lead dust on their fingers and then put their hands in their mouths. Places that generate dust like the opening of a window frame or door covered in the paint are also hazardous.
“Basically, there’s really no treatment for lead poisoning,” Prombo said. “You just have to prevent it from getting into the child’s body.”
Lead poisoning in St. Louis children has dropped dramatically from about 16 percent of children tested in 2001 to about 4 percent in 2008, according to Lead Safe St. Louis.
Advocates say they also want to see an abatement plan at the middle and high schools, where lead and asbestos is still a concern.
Gaines said, “We understand and recognize as a board how serious an issue this is and we are doing everything that we can to first, contain it and second, to eliminate it. It is our intent to have it removed from every school in the system.”
Cost to replace windows in elementary schools:
Ashland $102,000
Columbia $182,000
Froebel $180,000
Herzog $190,000
Meramec $140,000
Roe $170,000
Blow $250,000
Buder $160,000
Dunbar $155,000
Gallaudet $110,000
Hickey $120,000
Monroe $175,000
Shaw $178,000
Clay $232,000
Farragut $200,000
Hamilton $240,000
Kennard $130,000
Mullanphy $260,000
Sigel $247,000
Cole $142,000
Ford $150,000
Henry $241,000
Mason $174,000
Peabody $200,000
Woerner $160,000
Total number of windows: 4,488
Average cost of each window: $1,000
Total estimate: $4,488,000
Consultants Cost for Oversight (20%): $897,600
Total Cost: $5,385,600