Over 100 people showed up to Monday night’s Butler Area School Board meeting demanding action in response to elevated lead levels in the water at Summit Township Elementary School and they got it when classes were cancelled at the school for Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I think that the school board and the superintendent have made the right decision. I think they have endangered our children enough and it’s a good idea not to expose them to anymore lead at this time.”
Tara Huntsman is one of over 13 concerned parents and community members who spoke at the meeting and after a lengthy closed door executive session, the board made sweeping changes.
In addition to cancelling classes over the next two days, the board has hired Gannett Fleming to serve as a consultant and create a water plan for the district. The board directed their solicitor to report all violations to appropriate authorities and ensure corrective actions are taken to bring the district into full compliance. The board has suspended their Director of Grounds and Maintenance who also served as the district’s water operator. The board hired a new water operator with experience running the Adams Township Water Authority as well as a solicitor from North Hills to investigate where failures occurred and recommendations of future action. The board will hire a manager to lead a team dedicated to improving water quality testing and communication. The board also directly addressed concerns brought up by speakers by contracting with Butler Health System to perform blood tests for elevated lead levels. The board also plans to reimburse parents or staff who would like to use their own physicians for the test.
“We did give them a list of a few things we would like to see as a group. I think that they are working on a lot of those. I really do think that we need to have soap and water at that school, that’s a huge thing. We need to get the children and the faculty tested and find out who’s responsible for this.”
The board also directed administrators to create a portion of the district’s website dedicated to regular updates on the progress of the Summit water situation. A community meeting will also be held at Summit sometime during the next two weeks for more feedback.
Written by Ryan Saeler