Milwaukee Public Schools presented a “quarterly report” on its Lead Action Plan to the Board of School Directors on September 24. The presentation described schedules, precautions, and future work, along with a few district wide figures. But it did not provide the information families need to judge whether hazards are being found and addressed.
Lead-Safe Schools MKE worked with board members to shape the lead safety resolution because families needed more than assurances. The resolution requires MPS to report the number of lead- paint work orders, how long they have been open, and the average response time. None of those figures appeared in the presentation. Families cannot find them on the district’s public lead page, either. Without them, the public cannot tell whether new maintenance concerns are being resolved promptly or accumulating across schools.
The presentation also falls short on soil. MPS outlined ways to limit contact with soil but said testing would occur as required during construction projects. Our group has already called for action on documented soil contamination at Golda Meir Lower Campus. MPS needs a proactive testing plan for school grounds, with results and follow-up actions published by school. Children should not have to wait for a construction project to find out whether the ground where they play contains lead.
MPS’s reliance on construction triggered testing also sidesteps its broader legal and environmental justice obligations once contamination is known. Under Wisconsin’s environmental cleanup law, ch. NR 700, Wis. Adm. Code, anyone who knows or has reason to know that a hazardous substance like lead has been released, including in soil, is responsible for investigating the full extent of that contamination (NR 716), reporting it to the Wisconsin DNR (NR 706, implementing s. 292.11, Wis. Stats.), and taking remedial action to meet applicable soil standards (NR 720, NR 722). Where contamination is left in place rather than fully removed, the law also requires long-term care including monitoring, maintenance, and documented continuing obligations until the lead source has been removed (NR 724, NR 727).
These duties exist independent of any construction schedule. At Golda Meir Lower Campus, documented soil contamination should have already triggered this process. MPS should confirm it has reported known lead soil contamination to DNR, and should apply the same investigation, remediation, and long-term monitoring standards required of any other property owner in Wisconsin, not a lesser, school specific standard that waits for the next construction project or child to be poisoned.
The board resolution also calls for water safety testing and filter-replacement protocols, and for water- testing results and filter-maintenance data to be available to families. The presentation describes a limited testing schedule driven by federal requirements, including testing secondary schools only upon request. Lead-Safe Schools MKE continues to call for regular water testing throughout the district and clear, school-level reporting of the results.
Finally, as MPS considers closing or merging schools, lead burden must be an explicit part of its building decisions. The district should disclose how it weighs documented hazards, untested areas, ongoing maintenance needs, and the cost of keeping each building lead safe. It must also assess those same conditions at any school proposed to receive displaced students. Families should be able to see the evidence behind those decisions.
We call on MPS to provide the work-order data required by the board, make its public lead page a useful account of testing and completed and outstanding work, adopt proactive soil and regular water testing consistent with its obligations under ch. NR 700, Wis. Adm. Code, and show how lead safety factors into facilities decisions. Lead exposure is preventable. Public reporting should help prevent it.
