Organizers from a local community group called for new policies to clean up lead in St. Louis-area public schools at the St. Louis County Council meeting Tuesday.
Metropolitan Congregations United wants to see a county-level ordinance to hold school districts accountable for lead remediation in drinking water that is already required by state law but that organizers say is not being enforced.
“The current state law has no clear accountability measures, so the MCU leaders are asking local county officials to create ordinances that will hold school districts accountable,” said Yaya Mcmasters, an organizer with the faith-based nonprofit.
A 2022 Missouri law required all school districts to test all drinking water sources in their buildings for lead before the beginning of the 2024-25 school year. The law also applies to private schools and early childhood education centers that receive public funding.
If a district found a drinking source with lead above 5 parts per billion, it was required to send a public notice to parents and staff. Districts were also required to either take that source out of operation or take steps to clean up the water source and retest it to make sure lead levels had fallen below 5 ppb.
Districts were required to publish test results and remediation plans on their websites within two weeks of receiving test results. They were then supposed to follow up with additional testing, but MCU said that has not been consistent across districts.
A review of the websites of the 22 public school districts in St. Louis County showed almost all districts did find at least some water sources in their buildings with lead concentrations above 5 ppb. Many reported finding higher concentrations in sinks that were not regularly used.
All of the districts posted initial test results online with one exception; the Clayton School District was not able to provide a link to its testing before publication but told St. Louis Public Radio it did not find a source in excess of the threshold in its testing. That makes it the only school district in St. Louis County that did not. The district had been working on reducing lead exposure in its schools before the new Missouri law.
MCU is launching a scorecard that will rate school districts’ compliance with the new Missouri law and include a grade based on their transparency on testing and remediation measures.
Allie Lively, an environmental justice intern with MCU, said one shortcoming has been communication from districts about additional testing after they initially found levels above the threshold. She has also seen remediation measures that fall short, like posting signs on water sources warning students not to use them.
“There's no accountability measures, really, for schools that may not be remediating effectively,” Lively said. “We don't want to fault the schools necessarily, and we also don't want them to feel shameful about their lead results. We want to be able to help them to remediate.”
The organization is also calling on districts to install filters on all drinking sources and would like to expand the testing requirements to cover facilities with even younger children, like day cares.
“Those are the most vulnerable children when it comes to lead staying in their body the longest and causing the most damage,” said Christina Kuntzman, an education and environmental justice organizer with MCU.
Lead exposure can be especially harmful for children. It can cause problems with development, learning and behavior, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no known safe level of lead exposure, according to Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services.
Along with the 2022 law, Missouri made $27 million in funding available to support schools in the process of testing for and remediating lead and prioritized disadvantaged districts. DHSS is no longer accepting applications for this funding.
A new federal rule will also require drinking water systems across the country to find and remove lead pipes, including in the St. Louis region. As a result, St. Louis residents received letters if they had service lines made of lead or an unknown material. The Environmental Protection Agency also announced that Missouri will receive $40.5 million in funding to address lead pipes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
St. Louis has the seventh-most service lines containing lead pipe in the U.S., according to a 2024 analysis of federal data by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Read lead water sampling results from St. Louis County school districts at the following links: Affton School District, Bayless School District, Brentwood School District, Ferguson-Florissant School District, Hancock Place School District, Hazelwood School District, Jennings School District, Kirkwood School District, Ladue School District, Lindbergh School District, Maplewood Richmond Heights School District, Mehlville School District, Normandy Schools Collaborative, Parkway School District, Pattonville School District, Ritenour School District, Riverview Gardens School District, Rockwood School District, the School District of University City, Valley Park School District and Webster Groves School District.
Correction: Allie Lively is an environmental Justice Intern with MCU.
