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