Three more schools in Milwaukee are closing after staff with the city health department identified “significant lead hazards” when inspecting the properties this week.
The three schools — Starms Early Childhood, Fernwood Montessori and LaFollette School — will all temporarily close on Monday.
The closures come as four other Milwaukee Public Schools have been investigated for high levels of lead in the past few weeks. One of those schools, Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies, was shut down by the Milwaukee Health Department two weeks ago due to “unsafe lead dust levels.”
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A Thursday letter to families of the impacted schools said no lead-poisoned children had been identified at any of the schools that will be closed starting Monday.
“The temporary closure is out of an abundance of caution and to ensure MPS facilities teams have the space to safely address lead hazards present at the school,” the letter said.
The closures come after staff with the Milwaukee Health Department performed visual inspections at the three schools and seven others in the Milwaukee Public Schools district this week.
Starms Early Childhood is a kindergarten through third grade school on the city’s north side. Students and staff will move to the nearby Starms Discovery Learning Center.
Fernwood Montessori is a kindergarten through eighth grade school in the city’s Bay View neighborhood. Students and staff will move to Andrew S. Douglas Middle School, nine miles away.
LaFollette School is a kindergarten through eighth grade school on the city’s north side. Students and staff will move to Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning, three miles away.
Audra O’Connell has a fifth and a sixth grader who attend Fernwood Montessori School. She kept her children home on Friday after she got the letter from the health department Thursday night.
“I made them stay home, because … I get that it’s only one more day, but, I’m not going to put my kids in even more harms way,” O’Connell said.
The Milwaukee Health Department is hosting a free lead poisoning screening clinic Saturday for school children who may have been exposed to dangerous levels of lead at the four MPS schools that have already been inspected for lead.
The Thursday letter to families said that screening was now open to children who attend the three schools that will be closed starting Monday.
“Families are encouraged to have affected MPS students and children under age 6 tested for lead exposure through their primary care provider,” the letter said.
O’Connell plans to get both of her kids tested on Saturday at the clinic.
“Obviously there’s a huge concern for, has this impacted my children in some way,” O’Connell said.
Isabelle Koenig has a four-year-old son who also attends Fernwood Montessori School.
“I just feel for everyone,” Koenig said about the school closing. “It’s really challenging.”
After picking her son up from class Friday morning, she said she wondered what testing for lead would look like at the school after the cleaning is performed.
“Unfortunately, I’m going to have to educate myself a lot better on it,” Koenig said. “Because obviously, as parents, we can’t just assume, (and) trust that it’s being done completely.”
The health department letter to families said all of the schools will remain closed until the health department, “confirms that all remediation and cleaning efforts meet lead safety standards.”
Lead risk assessments have already been performed at Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies, Maryland Avenue Montessori School, Golda Meir Lower Campus and Kagel Elementary School so far. One student at each of those schools tested positive for lead poisoning.
Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies reopened to students and staff Friday after a health department letter said the school passed its “clearance check following the latest round of lead hazard remediation and cleaning.”
Some parents in the district have started a website and petition in response to the elevated lead levels, asking for more transparency from the district. Kristen Payne has been organizing that effort and she said she’s heard from some parents at the schools that will close Monday who are keeping their kids home on Friday as well.
Payne said she wants the health department and district to also test soil and water samples at other schools in the district in the coming days and weeks.
“I’m glad they’re taking this seriously, they’re doing the visual inspections, but I think we need more than that,” Payne said.
There are 85 schools in the district that were built before 1978, when lead-based paint was banned. Lead dust is often formed as lead paint chips and wears down, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sandra Mojarro has a four-year-old daughter who has cerebral palsy who attends Starms Early Childhood.
“I’m glad that something is being done about it, cause this is pretty crazy, right,” Mojarro said outside of the school Friday afternoon.
“The fact that they’re doing something about it, I mean some things do take a long time, but it’s better late than never,” she added.
Children younger than age 6 are “especially vulnerable to lead poisoning,” according to Mayo Clinic. Lead poisoning can affect children’s mental and physical development.
Nearly 70,000 students are enrolled at MPS, while around 8,500 staff are employed by the district.
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