“I am turning off all drinking water in our schools until a deeper and broader analysis can be conducted to determine the long-term solutions for all schools,” Vitti said.

The City of Detroit has posted school water testing reports on its website.

At the Academy of the Americas Elementary-Middle School, for example, two taps in the cafeteria — a kitchen faucet and a drinking water faucet — reported lead levels of 182 micrograms per liter and 154 micrograms per liter, respectively. Both are more than 10 times higher than EPA’s action level of 15 micrograms per liter.

“This is a disgrace,” Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician credited with drawing attention to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, tweeted. “Kids are in school to learn, not to be poisoned by lead.”

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department said that the issue did not affect other residents because the water distributed by the city was tested hourly and met federal and state drinking water regulations. Instead, it pointed to aging plumbing in the schools as a source of concern

Schools are not required by federal law to test drinking water for lead, only eight states have laws that require schools to do so .

the government accountability office surveyed morn then 500 school districts and found that only 43% of them, serving 35 million students had conducted lead test in “2016 and 2017”.

the agency recommended the EPA which regulates public drinking water system provide schools with schedules for regular lead testing and guidance on how to respond to high lead levels.