Lead Testing
In Sept. 2016, a state law went into effect that required all public school districts to test water for lead. The law requires school districts to sample all water outlets currently or potentially used for drinking or cooking purposes in buildings that may be occupied by students and to submit those samples to a state-approved lab for analysis. The law has been amended for 2022-23, changing the time frame for testing and the action level for lead, among other changes.
Testing timeline changed from every five to every three years.
According to state law, school districts and Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) are now required to test water outlets for lead every three years, unless the state commissioner of health requests individual districts to test sooner. The law previously required testing only every five years. Effective Jan. 1, 2023, the testing deadline for the 2023-2025 compliance period is Dec. 31, 2025.
Voorheesville CSD is up-to-date with New York state lead testing requirements, most recently testing in April of 2021. To stay inside the new three-year window, we will perform testing again in March 2024.
Action level reduced and waiver removed
The state’s 2023 revised action level of lead in drinking water is 5 parts per billion (ppb), reduced from 15 ppb. School buildings deemed “lead-free” are no longer exempt from testing requirements.
During our most recent testing, all VCSD drinking stations and kitchen areas were below the 5 ppb mark.
School districts are required to report the results of all water testing to the state Department of Health, the state Education Department and the local health department, and to post the results—along with remediation plans, if required—on the official district website. Our results are below:
High School Result Summary
Middle School Result Summary
Elementary School Result Summary
As required, Voorheesville Central School District tested faucets throughout the district for levels of lead. The district had all locations that were previously tested in 2016 resampled for thoroughness, understanding that areas already labeled as not suitable for drinking could come back with higher lead levels than state guidelines. During this testing, a number of faucets came back with levels above state guidelines, as noted on the reports. However, all of these faucets except for one, Room 189 in the high school, were identified during testing in 2016 and marked as “Do Not Drink” faucets having non-potable water. These signs have remained in place since 2016, and these faucets are not used for drinking or food preparation.
New York adopted water testing regulations to help ensure that children are protected from lead exposure while in school. Children are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of lead, so much so that the experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization agree that there is no safe level of lead for children.
Please contact the superintendent’s office if you have any questions about these results.