Unsafe Drinking Water Plagues Bryant Elementary

For the entire 2023-2024 academic year Bryant Elementary School students, teachers, and staff contended with classroom disruptions. Not from COVID-19 but from the absence of something basic: clean drinking water.

Bryant is one of seven elementary schools at which tap water tested positive for harmful lead levels, including Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8, which used to occupy Bryant’s 25th Street campus. Unhealthy lead levels are defined as equal to or more than five parts per billion (ppb) or five micrograms of lead per one liter of water, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Standard of Quality for lead. The American Academy of Pediatrics says any lead contamination is a concern; there’s no safe level.

In response to testing in 2022 and 2023, the San Francisco United School District (SFUSD) removed from service – by placing tape across them – or remediated all affected drinking fountains, including those used in food preparation. However, Bryant Elementary teachers and parents are skeptical that the remaining fountains are safe to use. 

“Since many of our water fountains have already tested higher than the allowable five ppb we don’t feel comfortable telling our students and families that it’s safe to drink the water from the other fountains,” said Sevasti Travlos, a fourth-grade teacher.

“Water flows to all the rooms but only select rooms were tagged as not drinkable,” concurred Joshua Zappala, an English language development teacher. “I don’t believe water flows in one direction and not another. It seems strange to me.”

SFUSD contends that some fountains are safe to use even if those nearby are not.

 “The main source of lead in pipes derives from the age of the pipes, faucets, or fixtures,” an SFUSD representative said. “Lead can enter drinking water through corrosion of lead-based plumbing materials.” 

To address the issue the district initially distributed water coolers to affected classrooms, which created different problems. 

“The dispensers we had in our classrooms became infested with cockroaches that are attracted to water,” Travlos said. “The classrooms were also infested. It was a miserable experience to teach students with cockroaches all over the classroom. There was loss of learning because kids were screaming about cockroaches.” 

The floors also need to be retiled because of water damage, she added.

In May, SFUSD started providing cases of plastic water bottles, but only to classrooms where lead levels were five ppb or higher. 

“I’m really upset because part of our curriculum is to understand the waste system and the impact single-use water bottles have on our future,” Travlos said. “Students are aware of it, and it feels I’m like teaching one thing and being forced to do something different. We look like hypocrites.”

Reusable water bottles offered a possible solution, but students often misplaced them or left them at home. Even when they didn’t, they needed to refill their water bottles at designated safe places, such as in the cafeteria. During recess, kids had to run back to class to get their bottles.

“They are gone for five to 10 minutes instead of going to the sink in the classroom,” Zappala said. “It’s created madness for something basic and simple. It’s not functional to force 250 kids to remember one extra thing. It’s an extra friction point that I previously never worried about in my 15 years of teaching. I used to tell kids, ‘Go get a sip of water and come back,’ but I don’t do that anymore.”

Zappala is concerned about the quality of the water not only for his students but for his son, who attended Bryant for pre-kindergarten.

“I want to have as much control over my child as possible and it feels icky and overwhelming at times,” he said. “Lead poisoning was probably happening long before we found out about it. How many students have been affected over the last 10 years?”

SFUSD’s next solution is to put filters on outside drinking fountains and remove ones in classrooms. Previously, unsafe drinking fountains remained in place but with a physical barrier, such as tape, across them. A spokesperson said the district has engaged environmental consultants and an architect with mechanical, engineering, and plumbing expertise to evaluate remediation options.

“In addition, SFUSD has consulted with SFUSD programs, labor partners, and other school districts to determine a remediation plan at school sites. Information on the process and next steps for remediation will be shared with school communities at sites impacted by lead testing results over five ppb when it is available,” the spokesperson said. 

There are intentions for a fall 2024 testing program, but when asked for specifics SFUSD replied, “The district plans to implement a new school lead testing program in partnership with the [San Francisco Public Utilities Commission] that will be compliant with the anticipated U.S. EPA Lead and Copper Rule Revision. The timeline for future testing will be determined once the revised guidelines are released.”

From Zappala’s perspective, the district is “saying a lot of words but doing very little action.”

SFUSD is working to close a $421 million deficit in its $1.2 billion budget that, if left unchecked, would begin to materialize in fiscal year 2025-2026.