Vancouver Public Schools and Clark County Public Health are investigating lead paint found at Hough Elementary School.
In a letter sent to parents last week, the district announced that Public Health investigators responded May 2 to a citizen complaint of mold at the west Vancouver campus. The district said it’s addressing the mold. But while Public Health staff were at the school, 1900 Daniels St. in Uptown Village, they noticed chipping paint around classroom windows and were concerned about the possibility of lead-based paint.
Public Health staff returned May 9 and screened for lead. Tests came back positive for the heavy metal in the paint chips.
Vancouver Public Schools will contract with an environmental service company to determine how much lead is present and where in the school. District spokeswoman Pat Nuzzo said the district has not signed off on that contract and so could not name the company or how much mitigation will cost. The district will also conduct a deep cleaning of the school.
Dr. Alan Melnick, Public Health director and Clark County health officer, said the presence of lead “is always concerning.”
“Lead does not belong in the human body,” he said.
Chronic lead exposure can damage a child’s developing brain, leading to learning and behavioral disabilities. But at an elementary school, Melnick said the risk of that kind of exposure is generally low. Older students are less likely than infants or preschool-age children to put paint chips or other objects that might be covered in lead dust in their mouths.
Still, Melnick advises parents who may be concerned to call their doctor. Public Health is assisting the investigation.
Hough Elementary School is one of Clark County’s oldest campuses. It was built in 1941 and remodeled in the mid-1990s. Lead-based paint and its dust is commonly found in buildings and homes constructed before 1978, the year the federal government banned lead-based paint.
Vancouver Public Schools is rebuilding seven aging schools in a bond-funded construction campaign, including five elementary schools. Hough, however, is not one of them. The campus is slated for some renovations, however.
Schools across the state and in Clark County have grappled with elevated lead in drinking water in recent years. Washington does not require that schools test for lead or other contaminants in drinking water, and a bill that would have mandated such tests died in committee during the 2019 legislative session.
A study by Environment Washington found that 97 percent of 199 participating schools and preschools in Washington had at least one tap where lead was detected at 1 part per billion or greater. While the Environmental Protection Agency’s action level for lead is 15 parts per billion, the American Academy of Pediatrics urges schools to limit lead exposure in drinking water to the lesser 1 part per billion.
Vancouver Public Schools’ limit for water sources is lower still: 0.015 part per billion. The district tests 20 percent of its campuses every year on a rotating five-year period. The district did not test Hough Elementary School in the 2018-2019 school year, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s lead-testing page.
