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High Lead Levels at Crown Heights School Prompts Meeting With Parents

 A water fountain at P.S. 289 in Crown Heights was found to have a thousand times more lead in its water than acceptable levels set by the EPA, according to recent testing data from the Department of Education.
A water fountain at P.S. 289 in Crown Heights was found to have a thousand times more lead in its water than acceptable levels set by the EPA, according to recent testing data from the Department of Education.
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CROWN HEIGHTS — Officials will meet with parents Wednesday to discuss recent lead testing that found lead levels a thousand times higher than federal safety guidelines in a school water fountain, the Department of Education said.

The city will be on hand at P.S. 289 in Crown Heights to take questions about the testing conducted in December and detailed in a letter from the DOE sent to parents last week.

DOE and Department of Health officials will meet with parents at the school, located at 900 St. Marks Ave., in two sessions on Wednesday at 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., a spokeswoman from the schools agency told DNAinfo Tuesday.

Within 160 samples of water taken at the school — part of a system-wide lead testing for public schools currently being conducted by the city — 29 were found to have elevated levels of lead, the DOE’s records show, including one fountain in Classroom 222 that had a lead concentration of 15,000 parts per billion (ppb).

Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency says action should be taken to lower lead levels if they are higher than 15 parts per billion.

In the letter about P.S. 289’s testing, Deputy Chancellor Elizabeth Rose assured parents Classroom 222’s fountain and one other have been replaced and are now safe according to the EPA guidelines. Seven other water fountains where the DOE found “exceedances” will remain “out of service until they are fully remediated,” she said.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the custodial staff will continue to flush the P.S. 289 water systems on Monday mornings before school starts in order to eliminate water that has been stagnant in pipes over the weekend,” she wrote in the April 19 letter, sent after the New York Post published a story about the lead testing.

The DOE did not answer questions about what would be discussed with parents on Wednesday or whether the meetings are open to the public. A spokeswoman for the agency said only that the school’s PTA had been notified about the meetings and DOE and DOH officials would attend.

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