OUSD lead crisis: Almost all drinking water sources are now safe

""We only have two today that are still elevated," Nilufar Abdul, assistant manager of systems and services in OUSD, said during a facilities committee meeting this month."

"OUSD has also added new transparency measures so that families and school staff can keep track of testing and mitigation efforts."

"The district's policy is that if a drinking water source has lead levels higher than 5 parts per billion, it will be taken out of service until the source of the problem is identified and repaired."

"The dashboard allows users to filter by school site and view a list of every fixture that has been tested, along with the date and results of those tests."

Eighteen months after a lead contamination crisis, Oakland Unified School District has nearly resolved the issue, with only two fixtures still elevated. Initially, unsafe lead levels were found in 43 schools, some exceeding safe limits by 20 times. The district has implemented new transparency measures, including a water quality testing dashboard that displays testing results for each site. The policy mandates removal of fixtures with lead levels above 5 parts per billion until repaired and retested. The dashboard updates daily, showing current water safety status.

Read at The Oaklandside