ST. LOUIS — It’s mostly a ceremonial moment at Columbia Elementary School on St. Louis Avenue, but a moment that brought relief to parents.
“A lot of kids use playgrounds,” said Sarah Martin, parent and former St. Louis alderwoman. “The public school playground is their kind of neighborhood playground.”
She and her daughter live near the school and are around fences which have caused concern for years.
The paint in the fences contains lead, and she says it’s time to remove them.
“Anybody with children can understand that,” she said. “You go to the pediatrician and they test for lead. You always have to wait for the results and you just hope for the best.”
In 2021, the 5 On Your Side I-Team met another parent who found that the lead-based paint on the fences matched what was in his historic home.
He used a household testing kit on a fence at the school.
Eventually, the I-Team found the problem was a lot bigger than one school -- at ten different buildings, we found students playing on and around similar fences.
Test results at the time found lead levels at one south city school were 40 times higher than EPA safety standards.
A spokesperson with St. Louis Public Schools said the district has been active in removing lead since 2009.
“We actually have several sites that are being removed as we speak,” said Square Watson, Deputy Superintendent of Operations with St. Louis Public Schools.
Two years after 5 On Your Side's reporting, the district secured enough money through a proposition to replace the fences.
The district said their plan to improve fencing is massive.
“This allows us the opportunity to address a lot of our facility needs,” Watson said.
The district said the project costs about $2 million and should be done sometime in the fall.
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