MCS begins faucet & drinking fountain replacement; sets up blood testing clinic

Last Thursday Manchester Community Schools superintendent announced their next step in addressing the water testing results received in early January that showed elevated levels of lead in some of the drinking water.

The school district in working with Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s (EGLE ) Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division, has purchased of Filtered Drinking Fountain and Bottle Filling Stations for the main drinking fountains identified as impacted at Klager Elementary and Manchester Jr./Sr. High School to be replaced and installed. The next step is the ordering and replacement of the impacted faucets and fixtures at Klager Elementary and Manchester Jr./Sr. High School and the securing Point of Use filters for use in the interim of several of the impacted locations. The final phase will be to replace all classroom fixtures and fountains at Klager Elementary as a part of addressing this issue proactively so no non-impacted fixtures and areas become areas of concern in the future.

Finally, they have coordinated a second Blood Lead Testing Clinic to be held Tuesday, February 1 from 11am to 5pm in Room 105 at Luther C. Klager Elementary. Interested parents will enter Room 105 directly from the outside near the Bus Loop, and your child will be called to the room to complete the consent process and testing. A parental consent form available from the district must be signed prior to the test.

The target population for the blood testing is children ages 6 & under, and pregnant women. The blood test requires 3 to 5 drops of blood from a finger prick, placed on a paper card. The paper card will be sent to the state for testing, and results will be available within a week. If the test shows elevated blood lead levels, the child will need a follow up test. There will likely be nursing students participating in collecting blood samples.

The school district will have further information at the event about how to get a water filter and education on lead poisoning prevention.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.