Pennsylvania law allows schools to skip lead testing, report says

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Loopholes in Pennsylvania state law allow some school districts in the state to avoid testing their drinking water for lead, and to abstain from informing parents and teachers about lead contamination, according to a new report.

PennEnvironment alleges that lead testing at schools throughout the state, including in the areas of Norristown, West Chester and Upper Darby, is irregular and scattered. The environmental group also said districts lack transparency when it comes to how they address lead in drinking water.

PennEnvironment is calling for tougher state laws to protect students from lead, which can impact cognitive and physical development among children.

“Even those districts acting completely within the law may still, thanks to shortcomings in the law itself, fail in their obligation to protect their students from lead,” the report reads. “Other districts appear to be violating the law. The absence of enforcement mechanisms means that for those latter districts, there are no repercussions.”

Infrequent testing

PennEnvironment said Right-to-Know requests to nine of Pennsylvania’s largest school districts indicate some schools hinder access to lead test results; fail to test for lead regularly or fail to test an adequate number of outlets; and, in some cases, do not report positive test results to the state’s Department of Education.

“All of the school districts … violated best practices when addressing the threat of lead in school drinking water and comprehensively testing for lead,” said Stephanie Wein, a clean water advocate for PennEnvironment, during a Wednesday press conference. “An astounding eight of the nine school districts we surveyed were actually in violation of the existing law itself, when testing lead in drinking water.”

In the Philadelphia region, PennEnvironment found Norristown Area and West Chester Area school districts have chosen to skip lead testing of their drinking water during some school years. State law allows schools to do so if they hold public meetings to discuss the issue of lead contamination.

Norristown plans to test for lead during the upcoming school year, while West Chester closed its drinking fountains during the years it chose not to test, according to PennEnvironment.

Statewide, three other districts — Altoona Area School District, Bethlehem Area School District and Hazleton Area School District — went years without conducting testing nor discussing lead at required public meetings, PennEnvironment alleges.

Schools that do test for lead often aren’t doing so thoroughly, according to the report.

For example, West Chester and the Upper Darby School District tested just a fraction of its outlets, PennEnvironment said.

Irregular testing doesn’t provide an accurate picture of lead contamination in a building’s water supply, Wein warned. Lead detection can be random, and a number of factors can determine when water absorbs lead from pipes and fixtures.

The report finds that when schools do test their drinking water, positive lead results are often missing from the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s website. That includes positive test results from the Norristown Area School District’s 2018–2019 school year, PennEnvironment alleges. Right-to-Know documents show the district replaced fixtures where lead was detected.

“Sadly for Pennsylvania parents, and teachers, and students and community members, getting information to know if your local school district is implementing the best practices to address the threat of lead can be nearly impossible, and the school districts are putting up roadblocks to avoid answering basic questions about the scope of the threat or their plans for dealing with it,” Wein said.

In a statement, the Norristown Area School District said it is fully compliant with the provisions of state law.

“The health, safety, and well-being of our students, families, and community members is and will continue to be our top priority,” said Superintendent of Schools Christopher Dormer.

Upper Darby contains no information about lead on its website, according to PennEnvironment.

In an email, Upper Darby School District Superintendent Daniel McGarry called the report “misleading,” adding that the district tests for lead annually and holds public meetings for parents and teachers to review their results.

Pennsylvania schools are encouraged to test for lead, but the law does not mandate them to do so. A 2021 report by Women for a Healthy Environment found that of 65 Pennsylvania school districts surveyed, 91% of water tests detected lead.

In a statement, the Pennsylvania Department of Education said local school boards are responsible for providing “proper and healthful accommodations” under school code. If lead is detected at a school, officials must immediately implement a plan to ensure no child or adult is exposed, the department said.

“Despite PDE’s limited authority, we are committed to supporting measures that ensure school children and staff are not exposed to health risks, including working with multi-agency and statewide lead and asbestos initiatives and the enforcement of environmental laws by other agencies,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

In 2021, nearly 5,000 Pennsylvania children tested positive and were confirmed to have elevated blood lead levels. Lead paint is the most significant source of lead exposure, however, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Wein argued a so-called “test and treat” approach is not enough. PennEnvironment is calling on school districts statewide to follow the lead of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where filtration systems are being installed at all public schools.

If school districts won’t take action themselves, PennEnvironment urges lawmakers to pass legislation to require filtration systems at schools, mandate and fund lead pipe replacement and require lead levels remain below a level of 1 part per billion.

Last year, lawmakers introduced a bill that would require schools to replace outdated water fountains with filtered water by 2026.

Dwayne Wharton of the American Heart Association said during the Wednesday press conference that lawmakers must act now.

“We need a comprehensive approach that includes accelerated installation of hydration stations. Let’s commit to installing these stations in every school to ensure all students have access to clean, filtered water,” Wharton said. “We must address the root causes by replacing old lead pipes and upgrading our water systems. Enhance testing and transparency. Schools must conduct thorough testing and share the results openly with parents and the community.”

Through the state’s PENNVEST funding initiatives, schools can get resources to obtain water quality data, said the Department of Education. Between 2021 and 2023 PENNVEST’s contractor enrolled nearly 500 qualified facilities, trained over 250 users on a web-based training platform, assisted over 250 sample events and analyzed over 1,500 drinking samples through a Pennsylvania-accredited laboratory, the department said.

The Shapiro administration has invested over $100 million dollars to help schools fund improvements and repairs to their buildings, including to eliminate lead and environmental hazards.

“Pennsylvania students cannot learn, grow, and thrive without access to safe and healthy school facilities,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Eliminating lead and other environmental contaminants in schools, leads to better cognitive and overall health outcomes for children, and increases the likelihood of academic and career success. Ensuring students have safe and healthy school facilities is a top priority of the Shapiro Administration.”