Arlington School
Possibly motivated by the crisis created in Flint, Michigan with the pollution found in the water, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker recently took action. The Governor sought two million dollars and invited school systems across the state who wanted to verify the quality of water in their schools and Lawrence was one of the first cities to apply.
The result has been that they found traces of lead and copper in seven side spouts in the Arlington School in the north of the city and the Superintendent/Receiver of Lawrence Public Schools Jeffrey Riley ordered them not to be used until the problem is resolved. These measures have not been required by the state but acting with an abundance of caution to safeguard the health of students, faculty and staff.
Superintendent Riley sent a letter to all parents dated June 29 explaining the situation and the reason for this decision.
Several bottled water stations have been placed throughout the building for the use of students and school staff and sinks are clearly marked that they are not to drink water from them. This has been a stopgap measure after seeing the devastating results that contamination caused in Michigan. Children affected by lead may have many learning problems so it is imperative to find it early as it appears to have been the case here.
993 school systems have taken advantage of this opportunity in Massachusetts. The program is being supervised by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), the agency that oversees the quality of the environment in this state.
