Teachers and Families Organize against Lead Poisoning

At the start of the school year OUSD notified students and staff that faucets and fountains were being shut down for high amounts of lead contamination. Although testing was done during Spring Break in April 2024, OUSD did not inform school communities until August. OUSD failed to uphold their mandate of informing communities 72 hours after finding results, leading to poisoning during the end of the last school year and during summer school. 40 out of its 80 schools tested positive for lead in at least one fixture. As of this article, OUSD has only spot tested campuses and has not tested every school.

Lead is known to cause a variety of health issues, especially for children under the age of 6, including brain damage, kidney disease, reproductive problems, nerve disorders, slowing of growth, and more.

The Rank and File Caucus has helped lead a campaign of parents, students, and staff members mobilizing around the issue. Protests at school sites and the school board meeting have demanded safe drinking water for all with regular testing, transparency and accountability from school officials on lead testing, and free blood tests for students, staff, and anyone exposed to lead from OUSD water.

To access OUSD’s lead reports and participate in the campaign, email gettheleadout.OUSD@gmail.com

To follow our campaign on Instagram: @gettheleadout_ousd