Schools
Dozens Of Queens Schools Test Positive For Lead: Report
Inspectors found deteriorating lead paint in more than a hundred elementary school classrooms in 48 Queens schools, according to Chalkbeat.
QUEENS, NY — Elementary school classrooms in dozens of Queens schools tested positive for lead, according to new data from the city's education department.
Inspectors found deteriorating lead paint in 48 Queens school buildings that serve students younger than six, Chalkbeat reported. In those buildings, 139 classrooms tested positive for lead, the data shows.
The NYC Department of Education inspected 797 school buildings that were built before 1985 and serve students under six, according to Chalkbeat. Inspectors found lead in more than a third of them.
Find out what's happening in Queensfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Children younger than six are most vulnerable to lead exposure, which can hamper brain development and cause learning issues, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Our schools are safe, and this summer we've enhanced our protocols and strengthened communication with families around the steps we take to prevent lead exposure for kids under six," DOE spokeswoman Miranda Barbot said in a statement.
Find out what's happening in Queensfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The DOE is already legally required to check for lead in buildings erected before 1978, when the federal government outlawed lead paint.
After WNYC found alarmingly high levels of lead in some school buildings, the DOE promised to inspect aging school buildings three times a year and log findings in a new database.
Classrooms in the following Queens schools tested positive for lead:
- EAST ELMHURST COMMUNITY SCHOOL
- P.S. 106 - QUEENS
- P.S. 111 - QUEENS
- P.S. 112 - QUEENS
- P.S. 115 - QUEENS
- P.S. 12 - QUEENS
- P.S. 122 - QUEENS
- P.S. 129 - QUEENS
- P.S. 132 - QUEENS
- P.S. 133 - QUEENS
- P.S. 147 - QUEENS
- P.S. 152 - QUEENS
- P.S. 154 - QUEENS
- P.S. 159 - QUEENS
- P.S. 162 - QUEENS
- P.S. 165 - QUEENS
- P.S. 166 - QUEENS
- P.S. 171 - QUEENS
- P.S. 173 - QUEENS
- P.S. 18 - QUEENS
- P.S. 184 - QUEENS
- P.S. 188 - QUEENS
- P.S. 19 - QUEENS
- P.S. 191 - QUEENS
- P.S. 197 - QUEENS
- P.S. 21 - QUEENS
- P.S. 213 - QUEENS
- P.S. 22 - QUEENS
- P.S. 26 - QUEENS
- P.S. 32 - QUEENS
- P.S. 36 - QUEENS
- P.S. 68 - QUEENS
- P.S. 71 - QUEENS
- P.S. 80 - QUEENS
- P.S. 81 - QUEENS
- P.S. 81 ANNEX (OLD 75) - QUEENS
- P.S. 84 - QUEENS
- P.S. 87 - QUEENS
- P.S. 89 - QUEENS
- P.S. 9 (W REED SCHOOL) - QUEENS
- P.S. 90 - QUEENS
- P.S. 94 - QUEENS (JOINED Q880)
- P.S. 98 - QUEENS
- P.S./I.S. 113 - QUEENS
- P.S./I.S. 269 - QUEENS
- P.S./I.S. 49 - QUEENS
- PRE-K CENTER @ 44-15 JUDGE STREET (ST. BARTHOLOMEW) - QUEENS
- PRE-K CENTER @ 70-24 47TH AVENUE - QUEENS
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.