MILWAUKEE — As the Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) continue to work through lead hazards in some of the district’s school buildings, lead screening clinics are being conducted. 

What You Need To Know

  • Officials said 91% of the 249 children screened at Saturday’s clinic attended Golda Meir’s Lower Campus, Kagel Elementary, Trowbridge School, Maryland Avenue Montessori, Starms Early Childhood Center, Fernwood Montessori School and LaFollette School. Each of those schools have been found to have a hazardous level of lead in their respective buildings

  • Ninety-four percent of kids tested at Saturday’s clinic attend MPS schools

  • MHD said “a very small number of children tested above the CDC’s reference value of 3.5 µg/dL, and some of them do not attend MPS schools.” Due to the low number of cases, MHD said nursing case management from the health department was not required

  • MHD also confirmed that lead dust levels at Golda Meir Lower Campus and Maryland Avenue Montessori now meet established safety standards. They have both passed final clearance and gone through testing. Additional remediation will not be required by MHD

On Saturday, March 15, MPD and MHD held a free lead screening clinic alongside Children’s Wisconsin and Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers at Bradley Tech High School. The city said 249 kids were screened for lead exposure.

Officials said 91% of the children screened at Saturday’s clinic attended Golda Meir’s Lower Campus, Kagel Elementary, Trowbridge School, Maryland Avenue Montessori, Starms Early Childhood Center, Fernwood Montessori School and LaFollette School. Each of those schools have been found to have a hazardous level of lead in their respective buildings.

Ninety-four percent of kids tested at Saturday’s clinic attend MPS schools.

MHD said “a very small number of children tested above the CDC’s reference value of 3.5 µg/dL, and some of them do not attend MPS schools.” Due to the low number of cases, MHD said nursing case management from the health department was not required.

MHD said in order to protect the privacy of children involved, it is not able to release additional information at this time.

MPS and MHD said families who were unable to attend Saturday’s clinic should plan to have children screened at an upcoming one. A list is available, here.  

MHD also confirmed that lead dust levels at Golda Meir Lower Campus and Maryland Avenue Montessori now meet established safety standards. They have both passed final clearance and gone through testing. Additional remediation will not be required by MHD. MPS said it will adhere to “enhanced cleaning protocols” at those buildings.

Letters were sent to families at both schools on Wednesday informing them of the clearance. 

Starms Early Childhood Center, Fernwood Montessori and LaFollette School are still temporarily closed and undergoing remediation. MHD said it will conduct clearance checks at each school and let families know of any updates of re-opening timelines as soon as it can.

Remediation and subsequent cleaning are not being done when students, faculty and staff are in the building, as to not expose the school communities to additional lead dust.

MHD and MPS plan to inspect other schools throughout the district. Schools currently under inspection include:

  • Hopkins Lloyd
  • Brown Street Academy
  • Doerfler Elementary
  • Longfellow Elementary
  • Westside Academy
  • Auer Avenue School
  • Franklin Elementary

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Aly Prouty - Digital Media Producer

Aly Prouty is a digital producer for Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin, Ohio and Kentucky. An award-winning, multimedia journalist, she holds an honors B.A. in journalism from Marquette University and an M.A. in journalism and media studies from The University of Alabama.