MILWAUKEE — There are “dangerous levels” of lead contamination in several Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) buildings, the City of Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) revealed in a letter to school leaders on Thursday.

MHD conducted lead risk assessments in January at multiple MPS locations, finding widespread high lead dust wipe levels that far exceeded safety standards in the state.

It comes after concerns from parents that were raised during elevated blood lead level investigations, MHD said.

Inspections were done at Golda Meir School, Maryland Avenue Montessori, Milwaukee Chinese Immersion School and Kagel Elementary School.

At Golda Meir, ground floor lead dust levels were 67.5 micrograms per square foot. That’s 57.5 micrograms above the safety threshold of 10 micrograms per square foot. Windowsills at the school were worse, measuring at 1,417.9 micrograms per square foot, more than 1,000 over the safety threshold of 100 for an interior windowsill.

Earlier last month, MHD identified a case of childhood lead poisoning at the school. The department determined the source of that poisoning to be from lead-based paint in the basement bathroom of the lower campus.

“At the moment that we became aware of that we have worked diligently with the health department all along the way, steps have been taken to remediate that situation and we’ll continue to work with the city in that” said MPS Interim Superintendent Eduardo Galvan at a press conference Thursday.

Milwaukee Commissioner of Health Mike Totoraitis said as the health department was doing a walkthrough at Golda Meir in response to the child lead poisoning case, it “identified hazards pretty quickly.”

He said as officials began remediation, they uncovered another child with a similar set of health conditions, prompting them to look into Kagel Elementary School.

Similarly to Gold Meir, Kagel Elementary saw measures far above those recommended. In the storage room, the floor measured 340 micrograms per square foot, hundreds of micrograms above the threshold; the ground floor windowsill had 1,600 micrograms per square foot compared to the recommended safety threshold of 100.

Samples are still pending for Maryland Avenue Montessori. No lead hazards were identified at Milwaukee Chinese Immersion School, though only a visual inspection was completed.

MHD said action must be taken immediately to combat these dangerous levels.

“Failure to act swiftly and effectively will place children at serious risk of lead poisoning, developmental delays and other possible health complications,” MHD said in the letter.“Failure to act swiftly and effectively will place children at serious risk of lead poisoning, developmental delays and other possible health complications,” MHD said in the letter.

However, Galvan said MPS spaces are still safe to occupy.

“The city has and the health department has assured us that those spaces are good for our students to occupy, so occupancy is not the issue,” he said.

Ways to revise and strengthen MPS’ lead management plan are outlined in the letter. It also said MPS must prioritize testing and remediation for high-risk facilities, which means facilities built before 1978, those where children under age 6 regularly attend and those in poor condition.

More than 85% of MPS buildings were built before 1980 and may are around 82 years old on average, according to MHD.

MHD said it expects a response from MPS with an action plan within 30 days, on Friday, March 21, 2025.

The letter from MHD also comes as Gov. Tony Evers said he was lowering the lead poisoning threshold in the state from 5 micrograms per deciliter to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, which aligns with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards.

More than 1,000 children in Milwaukee had blood lead levels at or above 3.5 micrograms per deciliter in 2023, according to MHD. That’s higher than 97% of children nationwide. Last fall, MHD updated its recommendations for lead testing, advising that children should get tested at 12, 18 and 24 months, and get annual testing until age 5.

It further emphasized that those attending an MPS school or an after-school program should be getting tested.

“Just this morning, I visited three MPS schools because I’m an MPS parent so I took my kids to schools — and the findings, they did disturb me and I’m sure it’s a feeling many parents across Milwaukee will feel as well,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson at the press conference.

“MPS will solve the problem and city government will fulfill its role in protecting public health.”

You can read the full letter sent to MPS from MHD below: