For Immediate Release
April 22, 2016
Contact: Keenan Austin
(202) 724-8105
Grosso to Hold Hearing on Lead in Schools this June
Washington, D.C. -- Councilmember David Grosso, Chairperson of the Committee on Education stated today that he will hold a joint hearing with the Committee on Transportation and the Environment on the testing of lead levels in all of D.C.'s traditional and charter public schools. This hearing is a follow up to on-the-record questioning inquiries made by the Committee on Education to D.C. administrators during performance and budget oversight hearings regarding the testing of lead levels in schools. Representatives from D.C. Public Schools, the Public Charter School Board, D.C. Department of Energy, and the Department of General Services will be called to testify.
"It is well documented and widely reported that the impact of lead has grave consequences on a child's mental and physical development. As government leaders, we have a responsibility to protect our most valuable resource --our children--by exhaustively testing all water in our schools. I have called on DCPS and PCSB leadership to oversee the completion of testing all waters sources and report back to the Committee in June about the status of their schools. Parents, teachers, our community and, most importantly, our young people deserve the assurance that their government is acting in their best interest."
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