Students to return to Summit Twp. Elementary School Thursday amid lead concerns

BUTLER, Pa. — Summit Township Elementary School students will return to class Thursday after two days off following the revelation of elevated lead levels in the school’s water source.

When school resumes Thursday morning, portable sinks with municipal water, not well water, will be in place for student and staff use, as well as jugs of water for hand-washing and wiping down tables.

Butler Area School District officials are now

, but some parents told Channel 11 News that it’s a little too late.

RELATED CONTENT:

• School supt. admits 'mistake' after revelation of water's high lead levels
• High levels of lead found in water at Butler County elementary school

Instead of being in school Tuesday and Wednesday, Natalie Collins, 8, went to her doctor to get tested for lead poisoning.

Carrie Collins, Natalie’s mother, posted an image on Facebook of her daughter with the caption reading, in part, “My baby had to have blood drawn for the first time in her life because of lead in Summit Elementary School’s water.”

Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection test results from last August showed high lead levels in the well water that supplies the elementary school. Some of the readings showed three times the acceptable levels of lead.

District leaders admitted at Monday night’s school board meeting that they knew about the testing and knew about the lead concerns despite only telling parents about them last week. As a result, students in kindergarten through fourth grade drank the tainted water for four months.

Some parents, including Collins, said the district’s response is unacceptable.

“We need to stay on them. We need to follow this investigation, and we need to fix this problem,” Collins said.

The district officials have brought in an outside firm to investigate. New lead testing will be conducted, and a retired superintendent from a different district has been brought in to implement a corrective action plan.

School leaders are also urging all Summit Township Elementary School parents to get their children tested for lead poisoning at the district’s expense.

“I'm a mom who is pretty straightforward. I just told (my daughter that) we had to do this because there was bad stuff in her drinking water at school,” Collins said.

Cox Media Group