Hazardous levels of lead have been found in Milwaukee Public Schools, prompting pleas from parents and the broader community to redress a decades-long health crisis plaguing the city.
At least one student has tested positive for lead poisoning after exposure at Golda Meir School Lower Campus in January. Lead hazards were widespread in the building, found on the ground in the boy’s bathroom, cafeteria, a hallway, the teacher’s lounge, kitchen areas and multiple rooms on the first, second and third floors, according to the Milwaukee Health Department.
Since then, three other students at Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies, Maryland Avenue Montessori and Albert E. Kagel Dual Language School may have been lead-poisoned due to lead hazards from chipping lead-based paint and lead dust, the department cautioned.
Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies became the first MPS building to close due to its high lead levels.
An additional three other schools soon followed a week and a half later. Starms Early Childhood Center, Fernwood Montessori and Lafollette School closed for high lead level findings and remediation.
“It is really disheartening to see the dysfunction, frankly, in the Health Department, at the administration of MPS and the city of Milwaukee,” said Dr. Kristen Payne, parent of a student at Golda Meier. “This is a really important moment to act.”
No lead is safe, especially for children. Although lead-based paint was banned in 1978 due to safety concerns, more than 85% of schools in Milwaukee were built before then. In other words, lead paint dust may be ubiquitous in the city’s school infrastructure.
“The whole built environment is infused with lead — our houses, our schools, our water pipes, our soil — it’s everywhere in Milwaukee,” said Robert Penner, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Milwaukee Get the Lead Out coalition. “Something drastically different has to happen for us to get any kind of transparency.”
Peeling paint and public pressure
Whether it be the city’s 64,000 lead laterals or old houses with lead-based paint, lead is prevalent in Milwaukee’s working-class areas, and Black and Brown working-class Milwaukeeans suffer the most from lead poisoning. Exposure can lead to numerous health issues, including neurological, reproductive, behavioral, kidney and digestive issues.
In addition lead exposure within the first six years of life is associated with increased risk of firearm violence in early adulthood, according to a 2019 study in the multidisciplinary journal Environmental Research.
“There is a relationship between lead poisoning and the criminalization of communities,” said Penner in reference to the study. “Corporate-owned media does not make the connections between lead poisoning and its broader social effects.”
While the effects of lead exposure are permanent, exposure is preventable, concluded the authors of the study.
“There is no question that lead is an environmental chemical exposure that could be, with sufficient societal intention, reduced or even fully eliminated,” said the paper.
The technical knowledge to further reduce lead exposure fully exists, yet incompetent officials have made implementing these measures difficult, said Meir school parent Payne.
Community takes action
Dissatisfied by the response from the local government, community-based groups have mobilized to provide answers and next steps in the struggle.
Earlier this month, the parent-led group Lead Safe Schools MKE held a public assembly to discuss concerns.
“Part of our next phase is getting boots on the ground, disseminating this information and making connections so that all parents who want information have it,” said Payne.
A petition from the group demanding more transparency from both MHD and MPS has garnered more than 400 signatures.
“Clean water and a lead-free environment — these are fundamental needs,” said Penner. “When people can get in touch with those needs, there’s a lot to be optimistic about. There are all these new avenues that have opened up for organizing now.”
Payne echoed that sentiment, speaking to the overall goal of community organizing to raise awareness and move people to action.
“I want to make sure that families and communities have all the information that they need. We want to connect people to resources, not just get them information,” Payne said. “We want to create a network that’s going to uplift people, help them through their journey, whether it’s because they have lead poisoning or they have lead in their home. We can do this without the government leading the charge.”
Feature photo: At least one student at the Golda Meir School Lower Campus on the edge of downtown Milwaukee has tested positive for lead poisoning. Liberation photo
