Press Advisory: We want school health and safety report card

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2002

Parents Assemble at Board of Education Meeting

6p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008

The city’s grassroots public school reform organization, Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE), will call on Jersey City Schools District Superintendent Charles T. Epps and the Jersey City Board of Education to adopt and implement PCUE’s proposal for a semi-annual health and safety report card, previously submitted. The advanced age of the city’s public school buildings – most are several decades old and some are over hundred years old -- calls for urgent attention to creating a healthy and safe school environment. A healthy school not only contributes to the comfort, health, and well-being of students but also allows students to perform better academically.

What: Parents assemble with signs in their hands to bring public attention to the need for school walkthrough and health and safety report card. Parent leaders will address the board and the public present at the meeting.

When: Thursday, Dec, 18, 2008 at 6pm

Where: School # 11, PS Martin Luther king, Jr.

886 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City 07306

Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE) is the Jersey City chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee (SEOC). PCUE is a grassroots and direct action organization working to improve Jersey City public schools. Since March of this year, PCUE has launched a campaign for healthy schools. Thanks to the effort of hundreds of parents and the community at large, school officials tested all our schools for lead in the drinking water, notified parents and the community of the testing schedule and test results, and provided water coolers to all schools until the lead remediation takes place.
---------------------------------------------------------
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Luella McFadden, PCUE President: 201-918-2918

Loyda Goldston, First Vice-president: 973-204-4121

At the Board of Education meeting, parents demand health and safety report card.

On Thursday, Nov. 20, more than 30 parents and a dozen children assembled at the Board of Education meeting to tell Charles Epps, Jersey City School District Superintendent, and members of the Board of Education that parents have a right to know the health conditions of the schools their children go to. At the meeting, parents told the Board to adopt PCUE proposal for health and safety report card for each school in Jersey City.

Below you can read PCUE statement at the meeting. The pictures from the PCUE action can be viewed in the next two blogs.

******************************************

Dr. Epps, Members of the Board, Parents, and Visitors

Hello,

My name is LueElla McFadden. I am President of the Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE). I am also a great grandmother of a child in School # 38.

Dr. Epps, we received your letter yesterday (hand delivered to our office) regarding the lead remediation. We are glad that the facility department has been taking care of the lead problem and a second set of testing is planned to take place. Dr. Epps, we thank you and all board members and also all our hard working maintenance and custodial workers who do their best to keep our schools in good conditions.

One thing we would like to see happen is that we want PCUE to be notified of the progress being made in regard to the water situation. But the most important thing here is to have parents be notified through internal flyers sent home by school students and it should be done in a timely manner. This is a must. We would like you to ensure that all principals in the district have these flyers go out with the students, and we will, of course, notify all our parents that we are in contact with on a daily/weekly basis.

We would like to extend a special thanks to Mr. DeRosa, Ms. Sue Mack, Mr. Dehere and Mr. McCann who met with us to talk about our proposal regarding a Health and Safety Report Card for each school. Why is the report card important? It is important because it will ensure that the parents and students are notified and aware of the conditions of each school and to bridge the communication gap between our parents and the School District.

Our goal is to have the report card put into policy to ensure that all Jersey City schools are safe and healthy for our students. A mere adoption is not enough. We want it to be a policy so that there is accountability and that it can be enforced. We understand that there is a process involved in bringing such an idea to fruition and that it is a collaborative effort, but we need you to realize the importance of the policy to the parents.

We need you and all board members to know how important it is that parents are and must be involved in the school walk-through. We also want to make sure that this report card is issued semi-annually.

The creation of this report card is very important to all concerned. It will bring the kind of healthy and safe environment that is urgently needed in our public school system today.

Thank you and we are looking forward to working with you to make our schools a better place for all our children.

More Pix: Healthy Schools, YES, WE CAN

Pix: PCUE Demands Health and Safety Report Card

Letter from Epps to PCUE regarding lead remediation plan

Page 1

Page 2

Please click on the images to read the letter.

PCUE Letter to Dr. Epps: Fix high level of lead in our schools’ drinking water sources

Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE)
Jersey City Chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee (SEOC)
169-A Martin Luther King Drive, Jersey City NJ 07305
201-918-2918 --- pcue.info@seocnj.org


Nov. 10, 2008


Dr. Charles Epps, School District Superintendent
Jersey City Board of Education
346 Claremont Ave.
Jersey City, NJ 07305


Dear Dr. Epps,

As we write this letter to you, PCUE has not yet received the lead remediation plan/timeline. You told us, in your letter dated Oct. 8, that it would be available to us by the week of Oct. 20th. The plan was originally supposed to be ready by Oct. 3 as was stated to the Jersey Journal by your spokesperson Mr. Roger Jones. We are very disappointed that our school district has been dragging its feet to deal with the lead problem in drinking water in a decisive manner.

More than two years ago in September 2006, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warned you about the high level of lead in drinking water in our schools. For 18 months, your administration not only failed to do anything about it, but also did not share that information with parents of children in our schools and the community until it became national news in January 2008.

Under public pressure, your administration finally began testing of water sources in all schools in May, 2008 and completed the process in July. In your letter to the parents, you stated that according to EPA guidelines a remediation plan could only be developed when all the testing is done and test results were available for all schools. This was inaccurate information to the public which you attributed to EPA. We learned about this information from a letter that was sent to you by Ms. Dore LaPosta, Director of Division of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance, EPA Region II.

As stated by Ms. LaPosta, there was no need to wait to have the test results for all the schools. Your administration could have begun correcting lead problem as test results were available for each school. This would mean that the district could have remediated the lead problem before the start of this school year.

EPA guidelines require a short-term and a long term plan to rectify the lead problem. We are glad to see that as a short-term solution, the district is currently providing safe drinking water to children in our schools. However, safe drinking water availability is a continuous problem in many schools. Parents from various schools complain that water coolers provided by the school district either run out of water or cups are not available. In other occasions, water is not readily accessible to children. Some parents even complain that their schools do not even provide drinking water for children unless in case of emergency when children forget to bring water from home. On Thursday, Nov. 6 we called and conveyed this to Mr. Crisonino.

We understand that providing safe drinking water to 30,000 students in 40 schools, under current condition when drinking water fountains are shut off, is not an easy job. However, we are asking that the school district make all the effort to have safe drinking water available for our children at all times. No child in our schools should go without safe drinking water and no parent should be forced to provide water to their children to take to school. It is the responsibility of schools to have safe drinking water for our children while they are in schools.

Also, we urge you to share with parents and the community how and when you plan to permanently fix the lead problem in drinking water. Under EPA guideline, you are advised to share that information with the public. Furthermore, you made a commitment to parents that you would notify them of the lead remediation plan/timeline.

As parents of children, we have a right to know how and when the district will be correcting this long over due lead problem that exist in our schools. We are concerned about our children’s health, well-being, and comfort in schools. We are concerned that the school district is not motivated enough to act decisively to deal with the lead problem and even worse is keeping us in the dark.

Dr. Epps, we urge you to address our concerns. It is time for action, not more promises. You may reach us at 201-918-2918.


Sincerely,



LueElla McFadden, President
Parents and Communities United for Education

Cc: Members of the Board of Education

Jersey Journal: School cafeteria can't reopen yet

School cafeteria can't reopen yet

Friday, October 24, 2008

By KEN THORBOURNE

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The cafeteria at School 25 in the Jersey City Heights section flunked an inspection by city health officials yesterday morning when they found fresh mouse droppings, city and school officials said.

The cafeteria, which serves 723 kindergarten through fifth-graders, was shut Tuesday.

Inspectors yesterday found mouse droppings in the kitchen and dining area and it appears the exterminator called in by school officials treated the area for a cockroach problem instead of mice infestation, said city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.

School officials were told they need to put down glue traps and seal openings around entry doors so mice can't enter the building, Morrill said.

"We are not looking to fine them (the Board of Education)," Morrill added. "We are looking to insure that the cafeteria is safe and that no one gets sick from any diseases that could possibly spread from mice activity."

An employee at the Kennedy Boulevard school, who didn't want to be identified, said the mice problem is nothing new and has spread to classrooms.

"And now that food is being eaten in the classrooms it is going to get worse," the worker said.

Custodians were scheduled to work though the night if necessary to rectify the problem, said Board of Education spokesman Gerard Crisonino.

Students at the school ate breakfast and lunch in their classrooms, which would be cleaned thoroughly at the end of the day, Crisonino said.

The school had cold lunches brought in, he said. Normally, the school doesn't prepare hot meals, but heats food already prepared in the kitchen, he said.

In the meantime, some 300 students and their teachers at the School 23 Annex on Duncan Avenue went without heat Wednesday afternoon and half of yesterday due to a broken valve on the school's furnace, Crisonino said. The boiler was fixed yesterday about 1 p.m., he said.

©2008 Jersey Journal © 2008 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

School 25 cafeteria is shut; mouse dropping cited

School 25 cafeteria is shut; mouse

droppings cited

Thursday, October 23, 2008

By TOM SHORTELL

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City health inspectors closed the cafeteria of School 25 in the Heights on Tuesday after receiving a tip about mouse problems on the building's ground floor.

Inspectors found mice droppings in the ground floor cafeteria and the basement of the Kennedy Boulevard school, said Jennifer Morrill, the mayor's spokeswoman.

Inspectors closed the cafeteria after lunch on Tuesday and it will remain closed until it can pass inspection, officials said. In the meantime, cafeteria workers cannot heat food for the school's 723 kindergarten through fifth grade students, officials said.

Meals at School 25 are cooked elsewhere, but heated and served in the cafeteria, said Jersey City Public Schools spokesman Gerard Crisonino. The school has called in exterminators and needs to board up any access points mice could have to the building, Morrill said.

Crisonino said the Board of Education hopes the cafeteria can be reopened today, when health inspectors are expected to re-examine the building.

The violations aren't as severe as inspectors made them out to be, he added. "The health violations were not that egregious. However, we don't want any of our facilities to not be the best environment for students," he said.

Students ate breakfast in their classrooms yesterday, and no lunch was scheduled since it was a half day, he said.

Most students at the school get lunches for free or at reduced prices through a federal food program, he added.

©2008 Jersey Journal © 2008 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

Letter from Epps to PCUE regarding lead remediation plan

Charles Epps, JC School District Superintendent, promises to have the lead remediation plan available by the of week of Oct. 20.

To read the letter please click on the image above.

PCUE Asks Dr. Epps for Lead Remediation Plan

Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE)

Jersey City chapter of Statewide Education Organizing Committee (SEOC)

169-A Martin Luther King Drive

Jersey City, NJ 07305

Office: 201-9182918 -- Email:pcue.info@seocnj.org

September 30, 2008

Dear Dr. Epps,

We are writing you today to first and foremost thank you for responding to our concerns and your work in ensuring that our public schools were tested for lead and also for your efforts in providing our children with water coolers in the schools.

On Sept.3, 2008, Mr. Roger Jones, your spokesperson, told the Jersey Journal that a remediation plan to permanently correct lead problem in drinking water would be ready within 30 days. The 30-day mark, (Oct. 3^rd) is fast approaching, and we are anxiously awaiting this plan/timeline. We, as the concerned parents of children in your district are requesting that a copy that of this remediation plan/timeline be sent to our office by Oct. 8^th when our members meet to review it. Your cooperation in this matter is much appreciated.

Sincerely

Louella McFadden, President of P.C.U.E.

CC:

All School Board Members

Jersey Journal: Parents group to rally at board of ed over water quality

Parents group to rally at board of education over water quality

by The Jersey Journal

Wednesday September 03, 2008, 10:31 AM

A parents group plans to hold a rally today in front of the Jersey City Board of Education to ask for changes in district policy in the wake of tests showing lead in some school water sources.

The rally, by the group Parents and Communities United for Education, will be from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in front of 346 Claremont Ave.

The group is asking the board to create a health and environmental safety committee that includes three parents, an "indoor air quality walk through team" including three parents and issue semi-annual health and safety report cards for each school.

Read the comments on line:

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2008/09/parents_group_to_rally_at_boar.html

Jersey Journal: Sullied water sparks rally

Sullied school water sparks rally

Thursday, September 04, 2008

By LYSA CHEN

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City parents and children rallied outside the Board of Education building yesterday, asking for more transparency and faster action as the district moves to clean up lead found in drinking water at schools this summer.

The final results of the district's voluntary lead testing program, released last month, found that 3 percent of water sources at school buildings have elevated levels of lead, even when the faucets were allowed to run for a few minutes. The federal Environmental Protection Agency lead standard for drinking water is no more than 20-parts-per-billion.

"Now what?" shouted parents, as they marched outside the Claremont Avenue building, chanting and carrying signs.

"Our experience shows that if parents do not speak up, do not organize, then the district procrastinates," said Mahmood Ketabchi, organizer of the Parents and Communities United for Education rally.

PCUE leaders demanded a timeline for the district's lead clean-up by the end of the month, creation of a BOE standing committee dedicated to environmental issues, an indoor air quality walk-through that includes parents, and a semi-annual health and safety report card for each school.

Within 30 days, the district will announce a permanent remedy to the elevated lead problem, said Roger Jones, a spokesman for the district.

Any water sources that showed elevated levels of lead were shut off and water coolers were dispatched to the schools, he added.

"We're on their side whether they understand it or not," Jones said, referring to the ralliers. "We welcome this dialogue. By no means are our doors closed."

©2008 Jersey Journal © 2008 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

Read the article on line:

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerseycity/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1220509611118300.xml&coll=3

Pictures From Rally for Healthy Schools

More Pictures From Rally for Healthy Schools

Press Release: Parents Want Healthy Schools

Parents &

Communities

United for

Education

For Immediate Release

Sept. 3, 2008

Rally for Healthy Schools, Wednesday, 12:30pm Sept. 3

Parents Urge Epps and School Board on Safe Water

and Healthy Schools

Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE), the Jersey City’s public school reform organization, plans to rally in front of the Board of Education at 346 Claremont Avenue, JC. The rally will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 3, one day before schools open. The rally is intended to bring public attention to the continued low standards in school health and environmental safety, in particular the lead problem, when more than 28,000 Jersey City children are starting a new school year. Participants at the rally will also urge Charles Epps, School District Superintendent, and the Jersey City Board of Education to adopt and implement PCUE’s proposed initiative. PCUE’s proposal would create the necessary tools to identify and take preventive measures before health hazards become a major problem, similar to the lead fiasco, jeopardizing the health and academic performance of our children as well as costing our school district an enormous amount of money.

PCUE’s Proposed Initiative Include:

1. Creating a standing committee of the Board of Education that is exclusively responsible for the health and environmental safety of our schools. Three parents should be a part of this committee.
2. Creating an Indoor Air Quality Walkthrough Team following EPA guidelines at the district level. This team should include parents.
3. Issuing semi-annual health and safety report cards for each school to parents of children in Jersey City. The report card should be sent to parents via mail and posted on the District's website.

LueElla McFadden, President of PCUE and a great grandmother of a child in School # 38 stated that “we cannot allow another debacle like the lead problem to occur or a school to be closed because of mold problems.” “Our schools in this city are by and large very old, some over 100 years. Our school district must make health and environmental safety a top priority,“ she added.

Plan to Remediate Lead Problem

On August 6, 08, the JC Board of Education released the final test results for the last set of schools. A tally of the test results for all schools shows that more than 10% of water sources tested have elevated lead in the first draw - samples taken after the water source have not been used for at least 8 hours, and about 3% in the second draw - samples taken after the water had been allowed to run from water sources for a few minutes.

“The Board has announced that they plan to develop a remediation plan to correct the lead problem. But they have not said when such plan would be ready,” said Edna Williams, Vice President of PCUE and a grandmother of two children in School # 34. “We are concerned that our school officials will procrastinate as they did with the testing. This is about our children and their health, and we do not take it lightly. We are asking the Board to develop a remediation plan with a clear timeline by the end of September. Also, as parents and members of the community we want to know what that plan is. Therefore, they should share that plan with the public,” she stated.

Loyda Goldston, PCUE First Vice President said, “In any schools where water is completely or partially shut off, children must be given clean bottled water and not told to bring their own drinking water.” “The board also expects parents to send toilet paper to school with their children. That is ridiculous! Our schools have a budget of $630 million. Today we have brought with us rolls of toilet paper and a pack of bottled water to the board. This is our first and last donation. We need them to do their job.”

PCUE is a grassroots organization of parents, grandparents, and concerned members of the community. It is a chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee of NJ. PCUE is committed to organizing parents in all Jersey City communities to improve education for our children. Since March of this year PCUE has launched a campaign ensuring that all our schools are tested for lead and parents and community are notified about the testing schedule and test results. For more information, parents are invited to call 201-918-2918 or visit the blog at http://pcueforhealthyschools.blogspot.com/

____________________________________________

Contact:

September 2, 2008 LueElla McFadden, President—201-918-2918

Loyda Goldston, 1^st Vice-president-- 973-204-4121

Press Advisory: Rally for Healthy Schools

Parents &

Communities

United for

Education

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES: FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Tuesday, August 27 Luella McFadden, President: 201-918-2918

Loyda Goldston, First Vice-president 973-204-4121

Rally 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3

Parents Urge Epps and School Board on Safe Water

and Healthy Schools

The city’s grassroots public school reform organization, Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE), will call on Jersey City Schools District Superintendent Charles T. Epps and the Jersey City Board of Education to adopt and implement PCUE’s healthy school proposals, previously submitted. In particular, PCUE will urge school officials to immediately develop both short-term and full scale plans to remediate the problem of lead in drinking water at Jersey City’s public schools. The advanced age of the city’s public school buildings – most are several decades old and some are over hundred years old -- calls for urgent attention to creating a healthy and safe school environment. A healthy school not only contributes to the comfort, health, and well-being of students but also allows students to perform better academically.

What: Rally to highlight the need for healthy schools for Jersey City children. Participants at the rally will carry signs. They will “donate” a case of bottled water and a pack of toilet paper to the Board of Education urging them to provide our children with safe water and sufficient toilet paper for restrooms.

When: Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008, 12:30 p.m.

Where: Jersey City Board of Education

346 Claremont Avenue, Jersey City

Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE) is the Jersey City chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee (SEOC). PCUE is a grassroots and direct action organization working to improve Jersey City public schools. Since March of this year, PCUE has launched a campaign assuring that school officials test all our schools for lead in the drinking water and notify parents and the community of the testing schedule and test results.

169-A Martine Luther King Drive, Jersey City, NJ 07305

201-918-2918

pcue.info@seocnj.org

For more information please visit: http://www.pcueforhealthyschools.blogspot.com/

####

Complete List of Test Results for Drinking Water

To read the text, please click on the image:

Jersey Journal: To Rally for Healthy Schools

To rally for healthy schools

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Members of Parents & Communities United for Education (PCUE) plan to rally Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Jersey City Board of Education offices, 346 Claremont Ave., to urge school officials to implement the group's healthy schools initiatives.

In particular, PCUE will urge school officials to immediately develop both short-term and full-scale plans to remediate the problem of lead in drinking water at Jersey City's public schools.

For more information, contact PCUE at (201) 918-2918.

JOURNAL STAFF

©2008 Jersey Journal © 2008 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

PCUE Open House on August 20 Was a Great Success

Our Open House went very well. About 40 people attended the event. Many of them were new parents and community members who got a sense of who we are and what we do as an organization. PCUE officers did a great job! The office looked beautiful. There was a nice spread of food and the atmosphere was very friendly and inviting.

Many important people showed up. Thomas Favia, the President of JCEA (teachers' union) came for about 30 minutes. Kabili Tayari, the Deputy Mayor was there. Councilwoman, Viola Richardson attended. Mr. Fenandez, Principal for school # 20 and his Assistant Principal came. Loyda, our First Vice-President gave him a picture of the governor's visit to School # 20. At the bottom of the picture it read: To the parents, children, staff, and principal of school # 20: Congratulation on getting a new school. From PCUE."

Special thanks go out to Edna William, Luella McFadden, Loyda Goldston, Kisha Harris, Marie Mervil, and Roslyn Gibbs-Muse for all their hard work. And thanks to everyone else who in one way or another contributed to the success of this event. Finally, thanks to all the new people who came to the Open House.

Please see the pictures below or click here: 1 and 2

Pictures from PCUE Open House

PCUE President, LueElla McFadden

Councilwoman Viola Richardson

Roslyn Gibbs-Muse, a PCUE leader, speaking to a parent

President and Vice-president from School # 11

More Pictures from PCUE Open House

Tom Favia, president of Jersey City Education Association with PCUE leaders

Kabili Tayari, Deputy Mayor, with LueElla McFadden PCUE President

Mahmood Ketabchi, PCUE Lead Organizer speaking with Tom Favia

Mr. Fenandez, Pricipal for School # 20 and Assistant Principal with PCUE leaders

Mr. Fenandez, Pricipal for School # 20 holding a picture presented to him
by PCUE First Vice-president Loyda Goldston

Jersey City Reporter: Water testing is done, but parents have questions about the results

The board of lead 3 percent of samples in school water fountains and sinks show elevated level

Ricardo Kaulessar Reporter staff writer

	SATISFIED? NOT EXACTLY � Members of the Parents and Communities United for Education welcomed the final results of lead testing by the Jersey City school district, but still had questions.

The Jersey City Board of Education (BOE) announced the final results last week of testing for elevated levels of lead in water in all the city's school buildings.

After 1,301 sources of water in the Jersey City public schools were tested for lead starting in May - including water fountains and bathroom sinks - a total of 41 sources in various schools showed elevated levels of the toxic element. Those sources have been shut off or disconnected altogether.

The testing began due to reports in January of the high level of lead in drinking water found at six schools (Schools 11, 23, 31, 6, 27, and 25) during routine tests done back in September 2006 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In February, the school district started a "flushing" program whereby school custodians turned on the water each morning before the start of the school day to remove lead sitting in water pipes.

The results are posted on the BOE's Web site (www.jcboe.org).

Now the next step, according to school board spokesperson Roger Jones, is for the district to form a remediation plan for the 41 water sources with elevated levels of lead above the EPA guidelines of 20 parts per billion.

Then, the remediation plan has to be submitted to the EPA for their approval.

Some parents of children in the Jersey City school system have complained that school officials knew about the lead but did not tell the public in a timely manner.

Lead can affect the nervous system of growing children in several ways. According to the Centers for Disease Control, "Childhood lead poisoning is one of the most common pediatric health problems in the United States today, and it is entirely preventable."

The testing process

According to Maurice Howell, special assistant in charge of maintenance for Jersey City public schools, about 2,500 samples were taken from water sources in all of the city's 45 school buildings this year.

The testing was conducted by Glen Rock-based Garden State Environmental, Inc.

"First-draw" water samples were taken at water sources after they have not been used for at least eight hours, to see whether or not they have levels of lead above the EPA guidelines of 20 parts per billion.

Then, second-draw water samples were taken at sources that are initially found to have elevated levels of lead, after the water has run for a few minutes.

Water fountains removed

Once conclusive results came in from the second-draw sampling, water sources that were still found to have elevated levels were shut off or removed, as was the case last week with water fountains removed from Schools 6 and 28.

With all the testing results in, Howell expressed satisfaction at the testing being complete, pointing out that it was a voluntary measure by the school district.

"I think it's a great idea, and I'm excited because I think we are a better district for knowing that our district is working to become lead-free in terms of water for our children," Howell said.

Satisfied? Not exactly

Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE), a local grassroots organization, as well as other concerned citizens, petitioned School Superintendent Dr. Charles Epps and members of the board in recent months to speed up water testing so that it can be done in time to tell parents about the results before the end of the previous school year.

The results were then posted on the Jersey City Board of Education Web site (www.jcboe.org) as well as letters being sent out to parents once results from the testing had been determined.

PCUE Lead Organizer Mahmood Ketabchi said he and other PCUE members, many of whom have children in Jersey City schools, were "happy" to hear that testing was done. But Ketabchi said there are still questions.

"They're saying 3 percent of the water sources, but that is only after the second draw," Ketabchi said. "There were many more water sources found during the first draw and we want to know what the EPA says about that."

Comments on this story can be sent to rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.

Urban Times News: Time to Show and Tell

Please click on the image to enlarge and read it. Thanks.

Updated Test Result for Water In Public Schools

Please Click on the image to see the large and legible version.

Jersey City Reporter: Contaminated Sources of Water in JC Public Schools

Where will this testing lead?

22 sources of contaminated water shut off in schools
After 789 sources of water in the Jersey City public schools were tested for lead starting in May, a total of 22 sources showed elevated levels of the toxic element and have been shut off, with results being continuously released including as late as this past Thursday.

The water sources - such as fountains and sinks - were in Public School 3, School 3 Zero Tolerance, School 4, School 5, School 29, School 29A, Academy 1, School 15, McNair Academic High School, Snyder High, and Glenn D. Cunningham Early Childhood Center.

More testing was completed in late June, and the results from those tests will be available this coming Friday, July 11.

The testing began due to reports in January about the high level of lead in drinking water found at six schools (Schools 11, 23, 31, 6, 27, and 25) during testing done back in September of 2006 by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Some residents have complained that school officials knew about the lead and did not tell the public in a timely manner.

Full Story

Press Release: Parents Await Further Action on Water Safety and Parent Notification

Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE)

Jersey City chapter of Statewide Education Organizing Committee (SEOC)

169-A Martin Luther King Drive

Jersey City, NJ 07305

201-918-2918

For Immediate Release

June 26, 2008

Epps’s promises about water safety are welcomed,

but parents await further actions

On Wednesday, June 25, 2008, Parents and Communities United for Education sent a letter to Dr. Epps, Jersey City Public School Superintendent, highlighting his promise at the Board meeting on Thursday, June 19, to implement proposals made by PCUE. In the letter, PCUE leaders indicated to the Superintendent that they were pleased to see that schools were being tested, and parents were kept informed. “However, during the summer, we will be watching closely to make sure that our school district follows through its agreement with EPA and its obligations to create healthy schools for our children,” the letter added.

PCUE asked the Superintendent and the Board members to:

1. Make a commitment to notify all parents by letter/mail when additional test results are ready after schools end on June 25
2. Translate information into Spanish for thousands of Spanish speaking parents
3. Assign someone with the necessary authority whom parents can call with their concerns and questions
4. Provide parents with information on health hazards related to lead and how and where they can get assistance and testing if they need to

Roslyn Gibbs-Muse, a parent leader with PCUE, said “More than 40 parents and children gathered at the Board meeting on June 19. This was the third time we assembled at the board meeting since April this year. We wanted to make sure that the Superintendent and the Board members see that we are here to stay and that we will be following through that all our children are safeguarded from health hazards while they are in schools.”

In the letter, PCUE emphasized that the Superintendent needs to:

• Follow up and make sure that principals do send the letters home as he agreed to. We have come across many instances where parents complained that they did not receive the letter regarding testing schedule and/or test results.

• Include Mr. Maurice Howell’s (point person for water testing) name and his contact information in the letter so that parents have that information. At this point, parents have no idea whom they can call and talk to if they have any issues regarding water testing and lead problems in the drinking water.

• Send information regarding health hazards related to lead to all parents not just to PCUE.

PCUE is a grassroots organization of parents, grandparents, and concerned members of the community that is a chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee of NJ. PCUE is committed to organizing parents in all Jersey City communities to improve education for our children and create schools that are healthy and safe. For more information on PCUE, parents are invited to call 201-918-2918 or visit the blog at http://pcueforhealthyschools.blogspot.com/

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Contact:

LueElla McFadden-201-780-1933

Loyda Goldston-973-204-4121