District officials plan to replace the underground water system at Page Elementary School in Springfield. Six classrooms were found to have higher-than safe lead levels.
Tests at Page Elementary showed sinks and fountains with lead ranging from 27 to 180 parts per billion. The standard for acceptable amounts of lead in drinking water is 20 parts per billion.
Jenna McCully, spokeswoman for Springfield School District, says the school was built in 1953.
McCulley: “We’ve elected to abandon the old water system. It’s underground. It’s antiquated. It’s hard to access if there is needed repairs. And instead we’re going to re-plumb and bring it above ground to much more standard and current practices.”
The estimated cost of the plumbing project is $95-thousand. McCulley says the funds will come from the district’s reserves. The goal is to complete the work by the beginning of the school year in September.
