The health and safety of our students and staff is very important to us; therefore, we wanted to proactively make you aware of changes to the New York State lead testing program for schools and Spencerport’s most recent results.
First and foremost, we do not have any findings that are cause for concern. In 2022, New York State updated its lead testing program, requiring schools to conduct testing every three years, not five, and reducing the threshold for acceptable levels to 5 parts per billion, from the previous 15 ppb. See explanation of ppb at the end of this email.*
The districtwide testing occurred in November, with water samples taken from every building, as well as our athletic fields and Ranger Stadium. The findings are detailed below and indicate the number and types of devices found to be above the NYS threshold. Canal View had no devices requiring action.
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Building
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Reported
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Type of device/outlet
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Bernabi
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18 devices
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- 7 sink faucets, 11 bubblers (small drinking device attached to room sinks)
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Cosgrove
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11 devices
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- 10 sink faucets, 1 kitchen pot filler taken out of service
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District Office
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5 devices
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- 4 sink faucets, 1 drinking fountain
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Munn
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48 devices
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- 29 sink faucets, 18 bubblers, 1 bottle filler in girls locker room
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High School
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13 devices
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Taylor
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13 devices
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- 7 sink faucets, 5 bubblers, 1 kitchen pot filler taken out of service
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Fields/Ranger stadium
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3 devices
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Included in these results are water outlets that had been shut off during the COVID pandemic and turned back on only for this testing. According to our facilities department and the firm who conducted the tests, many of the failed devices were from these inactive outlets.
Nonetheless, all of the failed bubblers have been taken out of service and the faucets marked with signage for handwashing only. Our current action steps will be to follow the NYS and EPA requirements to identify and address potential sources of the ppb levels and if you recall, we had similar experiences in 2016 and 2020, when we tested our water quality at the higher threshold and remediation was required.
Please be assured we will remain vigilant in our efforts to correct or replace any devices identified through these tests and findings. Information from NYS and its lead testing program has been attached for your convenience.
*The unit parts per billion (ppb) is used in chemistry, water testing and environmental science and helps to describe how concentrated a substance is within a solution (such as water), even when those amounts are incredibly small. One part per billion, or ppb, would be equal to adding one drop of water to a 10,000-gallon swimming pool.