‘Very small number’ of students found with elevated lead levels at Saturday clinic

“A very small number” of the children who attended a lead testing clinic Saturday had elevated levels of the toxic metal in their blood, according to a Wednesday letter from the city Health Department and Milwaukee Public Schools.

The clinic at Bradley Tech High School was held for students at seven schools that health officials identified as having lead hazards. Three of those schools temporarily closed Monday so those hazards could be addressed while a fourth just reopened to students and staff on Friday.

In all, 249 children were tested, according to the letter.

The department said that to protect the privacy of students who attended the clinic, it could not disclose the exact number of children with elevated blood lead levels when that number is below 10 total or below 5% of the children tested, which would be about a dozen.

“However, we can share that a very small number of children tested above the CDC’s reference value of 3.5 (micrograms per deciliter), and some of them do not attend MPS schools,” the letter states. “These cases were all low enough that they do not require nursing case management from MHD.”

Milwaukee Public Schools students made up 94% of the children screened at the clinic, while students from the seven target schools made up 91%.

Health officials were careful to say that elevated lead detected in a child’s blood at the clinic didn’t definitively mean their school was the source and that finding the source would require additional investigation.

Still, they said the results were important for determining whether there were a number of lead poisonings from a particular school or classroom.

The seven schools where students were asked to come to Saturday’s clinic included Fernwood Montessori School, Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Center and Robert M. LaFollette School, all of which temporarily closed starting Monday.

The letter did not provide a timeline for reopening the schools, which it said would stay closed as MPS addresses lead hazards and cleans the buildings.

The other four schools were Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies, which reopened Friday, in addition to Golda Meir Lower Campus, Albert E. Kagel School and Maryland Avenue Montessori.

Final testing at Golda Meir Lower Campus and Maryland Avenue Montessori this week showed both buildings passed clearance checks, meaning lead dust levels meet established safety standards, according to the letter. No additional work is needed to address lead hazards at the schools at this time, though the district must continue using lead-specific cleaning protocols to maintain safe conditions.

“Additionally, MHD and MPS are developing a rolling inspection schedule for schools across the district,” the letter states. “This will ensure a systematic approach to identifying and addressing potential lead hazards. More details will be shared as this plan progresses.”

Additional clinic dates are listed on the Milwaukee Health Department website, where information about the specific schools affected is also being updated as it becomes available.

Alison Dirr can be reached at [email protected].