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Schools' lead remediation plan not enough, teachers' union chief says

The Philadelphia School District is not doing enough for children at 11 city schools where unacceptably high levels of lead were found in the water, the teachers' union president said Tuesday.

The Philadelphia School District is not doing enough for children at 11 city schools where unacceptably high levels of lead were found in the water, the teachers' union president said Tuesday.

Jerry Jordan said the district was warned for years about lead problems, adding that it was "beyond upsetting" to learn of the problems at some schools.

School officials began testing water fountains at 40 schools over the summer. They found one or more fountains at 11 schools with lead concentrations higher than 15 parts per billion.

No problems were noted at 29 other schools that were tested.

The School District strongly defended its protocols.

The affected fountains were immediately shut down and were to be remediated, but Jordan said that was not enough.

"The district must do more than simply shut off the failing water fountains," he said in a statement. "Schoolchildren and staff at every affected school should be given ample supplies of bottled water until the problem is properly rectified."

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is also calling for more stringent testing guidelines and a quicker timetable for testing every water fountain in the district.

The school system last week said it would spend $1.5 million on a testing program that will take 18 months to complete.

H. Lee Whack Jr., a district spokesman, said the district's water-testing standards exceed federal regulations and mirror those in many other large cities.

"The School District of Philadelphia has a solid, credible, and reliable testing program, and we are continuing our work to ensure all drinking water is safe," Whack said.

kgraham@phillynews.com

215-854-5146 @newskag

www.philly.com/schoolfiles