TESTIMONY

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH JOINTLY WITH HOUSING AND BUILDINGS, PUBLIC HOUSING, AND EDUCATION CHAIRMAN, MARK LEVINE CHAIRMAN ROBERT CORNEGY CHAIRWOMAN ALICKA AMPRY-SAMUEL CHAIRMAN

Oversight – LeadFreeNYC and the enforcement of the City’s lead laws.

Presented on Wednesday, November 13th, 2019

The Council of School Supervisors and Administrators Mark Cannizzaro, President Henry Rubio, Executive Vice President Rosemarie Sinclair, 1st Vice President

40 Rector Street, 12th Floor , NY 10006 (212) 823-2020 www.csa-nyc.org

Good afternoon, Chairman Levine, Chairman Cornegy, Chairwoman Alicka Ampry-Samuel, Chairman Mark Treyger, and distinguished members of the City Council. The Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA) is Local 1 of the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA). CSA represents some 16,000 In-service and retired Principals, Assistant Principals, Educational Administrators, Directors and Assistant Directors of city-funded early childhood centers. As school leaders, we are grateful for this opportunity to address the issue regarding the enforcement of the city’s lead laws. We are alarmed that to date, we have not been able to eliminate lead paint and the lead in our schools’ drinking water. On January 28, 2019 in launching his “Lead Free NYC,” the Mayor said, “And so today we make clear that New York City commits to zero lead in our city. We commit to ending the scourge of lead paint poisoning once and for all. This is a Vision Zero approach. This report today literally is the plan to end once and for all lead paint poisoning in New York City.” Since 2012 there have been at least 1,160 reported cases of positive lead tests. More than 900 classrooms across 300 city schools have potentially dangerous chipping lead paint according to new data released by the Department of Education. Officials said they will repair or paint over the problem spots by the beginning of the school year and will contact principals asking them to reach out to families at affected schools in coming days. Lead poisoning, which often comes from ingesting paint dust or flakes, can have harmful effects on brain development, especially in children under the age of six. The Education Department now requires custodians to log observations of chipping paint at least three times a year. A separate inspection also revealed that water with unsafe lead levels was flowing through at least one faucet in 80% of the more than 500 buildings tested last school year. A DOE spokesperson said that “The flagged faucets had been repaired in all but 12 schools.” A Department of Health spokesperson confirmed that “The new protocols will help to ensure that schools remain safe.” According to the DOE website, New York City water is safe. While New York City water is virtually lead-free when it is delivered from the City’s upstate reservoir system, the water can absorb lead from fixtures, faucets, and fittings. This most likely happens when water has not been run for several hours. A standard response protocol is activated if a building has even one water outlet that tests above the action level (which means it contains greater than 15 parts per billion (ppb) of lead). This protocol requires removing any drinking or food prep outlet from service. The water is then flushed out of all or part of the system to eliminate water sitting in pipes overnight. Sometimes it’s necessary to replace equipment before re-testing for lead. posted the highest number of school buildings testing positive for lead paint, with 114 buildings, followed by 90 in the Bronx; 48 in Queens, 29 in Manhattan; and 21 in Staten Island. According to Dr. Morri Markowitz, director of the Lead Poisoning and Prevention Program at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, “The database is a really great start at making information available to families.” But Dr. Markowitz added that, “The city’s testing methods don’t fully remove the risk of lead exposure. As a matter of safety, DOE should test for lead paint before it begins to deteriorate, and not just in classrooms with the youngest students, but in all classrooms, as well as in common areas such as hallways, stairways and auditoriums -- anywhere with a potential risk for exposure.” He also raised concerns about how robust the training of custodians is. We appreciate that you have called this joint hearing to assess the data and continually exercise the City Council’s oversight mandate. CSA is committed to the goal of making every school lead free, and we stand ready to collaborate with all advocates to make schools toxin-free environments.

Sincerely,

Mark Cannizzaro