ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria Schools officials say a window replacement project at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School has resulted in lead exposure at the school. As a result, the school will be closed for the rest of the week while crews work to fix the problem.
"While the majority of the work occurred on the exterior, there were some elements that occurred on the interior
"Like many buildings constructed prior to lead-based paint being officially banned in 1978, Brooks has areas within the building that contained lead-based paint. A building containing lead-based paint is not in of itself an issue, provided that the paint is not chipping, peeling or disturbed by renovation or construction," said Dr. Alicia Hart, the Chief Operating Officer for Alexandria City Public Schools during a webinar Tuesday night.
She, along with ACPS Superintendent Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt, and health officials from the Virginia Department of Health shared information about lead, the status of the cleaning efforts and answered some questions from parents.
"A concern regarding the application of some of those measures was noted by ACPS project management staff on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024," she told those on the call.
She said testing was done, and on Thursday, Sept. 26, ACPS received the results of the testing. It showed, "elevated lead-containing dust in the specific rooms that were tested, either present in the window sills, floors in those spaces, or both window sills and floors. Given that there were elevated levels of lead in some of the rooms, Dr. Kay-Wyatt made the decision to close the school to address the concerns," said Hart.
She said crews immediately got to work cleaning the building and conducting clearance testing.
"We have had an opportunity to complete testing yesterday in some areas that have not been cleaned. With the exception of one slight elevation in a restroom, those spaces came back below the detectable threshold for lead," said Hart.
Clearance testing has to be completed and results verified to meet acceptable thresholds prior to the reopening of the school.
"Between 40 and 50 percent of the school has been cleaned," said Hart.
But this has been concerning for parents, who say this project has been going on for months.
"My immediate concern was questioning how long was this going on," said Nathan Macek. His son is in third grade at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School.
He told WUSA9 his son's classroom was worked on during this "window replacement" project, but wasn't one of the classrooms, as far as he knew, where elevated lead levels were found.
"My son's room had been completed back in August. Part of what we'll need to learn from all of this, is what was the exposure in parts of the building that had been done earlier," said Macek.
The Alexandria Health Department (AHD) says it is working closely with the school to provide guidance on health and lead safety.
"Students, staff and faculty at Naomi L. Brooks are recommended to get a blood lead level test," the health department said. "A blood lead level test can be requested from a health care provider. Providers can contact AHD for more information on testing and lead safety."
The health department said it is securing staff and resources to provide testing to students, faculty, and staff from Naomi L. Brooks this week.
During Tuesday night's webinar, They took write-in questions for about 30 minutes. Some asked about what families who are dealing with food insecurity are supposed to do.
For families with nutritional needs, ACPS says they'll be distributing grab-and-go breakfast and lunch for Brooks families at:
Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 School: 1501 Cameron Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.
For families interested in picking up meals, here is the information for meal distribution:
- Please go to Door 7 for meal pickup
- Breakfast pickup hours: 7:40 a.m.-8:10 a.m.
- Lunch pickup hours: 10 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Walk-up Only:
- Leonard “Chick” Armstrong Recreation Center (25 West Reed Ave) Next to Cora Kelly Elementary School
- William Ramsay Rec Center (5650 Sanger Ave)
The school is slated to reopen on Monday, Oct. 7, but some parents asked if there's a backup plan. The Superintendent said they're working with the city to find possible options, in case the school isn't able to reopen.
"We learned from COVID that shutting schools and having remote learning was not particularly effective. So, finding an opportunity here regardless of whether the building is ready on Monday to find a way to be back in person was really helpful," said Macek.
While the school is closed, students can access asynchronous learning activities on the Naomi L. Brooks Emergency Closure Learning Activities webpage.
On Thursday, ACPS posted an update on the cleaning process to the school's website.
They wrote that "as part of the cleaning remediation process, our third-party environmental remediation contractor is wet-wiping primary accessible surfaces, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuuming the floor, and using Sentinel 805 Lead Dust Cleaner to clean windows, doors, furniture, and school supplies".
According to ACPS, crews are also removing any loose flaking paint with hand tools, and then vacuuming it, and applying lead encapsulant coating.
They shared this diagram of the spaces that have been cleaned, as of Oct. 3.
According to ACPS, the green-shaded spaces indicated where cleaning and testing have been completed. This means testing in these spaces came back as "below the detectable threshold" and is ready for occupancy.
The yellow-shaded spaces are where cleaning has been completed, but they are still awaiting the results of the final clearance testing.
Regarding the gym, ACPS says cleaning is underway and testing will be completed once all cleaning is done.
The school system also announced Thursday that there is free testing now available at the Alexandria Health Department. All staff, families of students, and volunteers are eligible to be tested. ACPS also mentioned that the health department will not be checking class or staff lists.
Free Lead Exposure Testing:
Alexandria Health Department (located on the 4th floor of the Del Pepper Community Resource Center) 4850 Mark Center Drive
- Thursday, October 3: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
- Friday, October 4, 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
There is free parking in the garage, or you can take the free DASH bus (lines 35, 36, and 102) to the Mark Center Transit Station.
All children must be accompanied by an adult. You do not need to bring insurance information or ID. If you have a provider, please bring their contact information.
Additional updates are expected to be posted on the school's web page, here.
Lead is most commonly found in homes that were built before 1978 before lead-based paints were banned, but it can also be found in some water pipes, toys, jewelry, candies or traditional home remedies, according to the CDC.
According to the Mayo Clinic, these are some possible lead poisoning symptoms to look out for:
IN CHILDREN
- Developmental delay
- Learning difficulties
- Irritability
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Sluggishness and fatigue
- Abdominal pain
- Vomiting
- Constipation
- Hearing loss
- Seizures
- Eating things, such as paint chips, that aren't food (pica)
IN NEWBORNS
Babies exposed to lead before birth might:
- Be born prematurely
- Have lower birth weight
- Have slowed growth
IN ADULTS
- High blood pressure
- Joint and muscle pain
- Difficulties with memory or concentration
- Headache
- Abdominal pain
- Mood disorders
- Reduced sperm count and abnormal sperm
- Miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth in pregnant women