Our children need safe drinking water – especially in their schools. This may seem obvious – but unfortunately schools across the nation have tested positive for lead and other contaminants.
In Vermont this past fall, 16 schools had their water tested as part of a pilot water testing program and all 16 found lead in their drinking water.
This session, VPIRG and a number of our public health partners are supporting several proposals to better protect drinking water. For instance, we believe all of our schools should test their drinking water for lead and for PFAS chemicals as soon as possible and remediate as necessary.
In Gov. Phil Scott’s inaugural address, he told legislators his “budget will invest in lead testing at elementary schools statewide. And—if you’ll work with me in budget adjustment—we’ll have every school tested within a year.”
We’ll be interested to see the details of the governor’s proposal and hopeful that we can urge elected leaders and school officials to take swift action on both testing and remediation in all schools.
In the meantime – check out this great toolkit from our friends at U.S. PIRG to help parents, teachers and school officials get the facts on lead in drinking water and make the case for strong local action to ensure safe drinking water at school.