Oakland Unified leaders condemn communication lag, cite personnel issue in first meeting since lead contamination findings

In the first public meeting since high levels of lead were discovered at 22 Oakland Unified schools, district officials condemned the lack of communication, pointed fingers at those responsible and made a plea for additional funding and resources.

“The delayed communication of the lead test results was completely unacceptable. I sincerely apologize for the stress and concern this has caused our school sites, students and families,” said the district’s superintendent, Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “We are taking full accountability, including a full personnel investigation for the shortcomings and are determined to ensure that such failures do not occur in the future.”

The district made headlines last week when it announced that it had found high levels of lead in nearly 200 water faucets and fountains across the district’s public schools.

Water fixtures at nearly two dozen schools contained levels of lead greater than the state and federal limit of 15 parts per billion, the district said. And while the district said most of the 1,083 tested water fixtures met Oakland Unified’s stricter limit — 5 parts per billion — 70 water fountains and faucets were also over the state and federal limit.

A cafeteria tap at Cleveland Elementary School revealed lead at 480 parts per billion, while a kitchen sink at Edna Brewer Middle School showed lead at 540 parts per billion.

The district’s findings sparked outrage among community members, who expressed concern over how long it took officials to notify families and staff about the testing results.

District leaders said at Wednesday’s meeting that there was an average of 62 days between the time that water samples were received and when sites were notified. They cited the lag in communication as a confidential personnel matter currently under investigation.

Wednesday night’s meeting included over an hour of scathing public comment, which featured more than 100 parents, students and staff in attendance, and at times descended into outright chaos.

Board members struggled to reign in the crowd, which shouted back during officials’ statements and spoke over the allotted 1-minute per-speaker time restraint — even when district leaders resorting to cutting off their microphone.

Community members criticized the district’s leadership for failing to address the “historic” issue of lead in schools’ drinking water and blaming the issue on “lower-level staff,” while in the same night, leaders were expected to renew the superintendent’s nearly $400,000 contract.

“The most heartbreaking thing to tell my kids was that it’s not safe to drink the water,” said Chris Jackson, a special education teacher at Fremont High School. “The fact of the matter is we don’t just need good, clear communication. We need good, clear water.”

Governing board vice president Mike Hutchinson said the elevated lead levels were due to the district’s “aging infrastructure” and school facilities, which he said had an average age of 50 years.

Hutchinson also called on the city and county to aid the district in its attempt to repair and improve facilities.

“We need help to improve our infrastructure from both the state and federal government,” Hutchinson said. “Our local facilities bonds cannot build our way out of this…We need all hands on deck. We don’t have the money…to remediate this immediately.”