Something doesn’t add up when you consider what’s known about the elevated lead levels in the well water at Summit Elementary School.

Tests of water samples were collected for testing in August before the start of the school year. The tests came back from the state Department of Environmental Protection on Sept. 27 showing elevated concentrations of lead.

“As a precaution, all water fountains were shut off, water bottles were provided to al students and employees, and antibacterial soap was available as an option for hand-washing,” states an internal memo sent to school board members and Superintendent Dale Lumley. The memo, written by Assistant Superintendent Mary Wolf, indicates Summit Principal William Chwalik notified parents in a letter sent home that day.

In a letter sent home with students the very next day, Chwalik informed parents “that the water system for our school’s water is corrected.”

Wolf’s memo appears to say the same thing: that the water had been cleared by DEP for consumption.

But a right-to-know compilation of correspondence between the district and DEP concerning the Summit water supply fails to show any DEP official gave the all-clear for Summit.

Here’s what DEP did provide: a detailed list of requirements that the district was expected to take to remove lead from Summit’s water supply — and to alert the public. That list includes:

n Continue monitoring and testing of the water supply, both at the pipes entering the school building and at a variety of taps throughout the building.

- Complete a corrosive control treatment (CCT) feasibility study and submit it for DEP approval.

- Once the CCT study is approved, apply for state permits to implement it.

- Develop a program to notify and educate the public about the lead in the water, abatement efforts and the relative risks of consuming it.

None of these things appear to have happened. In fact, the principal’s note telling parents the water was safe never mentioned the word lead.

But these things are happening now. Summit’s water fountains were turned off and the DEP abatement requirements were put in motion last week — about the same time that the Eagle obtained copies of the DEP correspondence.

In a prepared statement issued Friday, Superintendent Lumley said, “We had readings in August with significantly high levels of lead, but those results were not shared with me or the board until yesterday.”

Internal correspondence frames the issue differently: Wolf’s memo to Lumley and the board includes clear mention of high levels of lead — levels high enough to necessitate an immediate shutdown.

This all leads to one question: If the concern was great enough to prompt that initial shutdown of the water supply on Sept. 27, then do you think the administration should have been concerned enough to verify — even getting written confirmation — that it had the DEP’s consent to turn the water back on again on Sept. 28?

Instead, there wasn’t another thought about the dangers of exposing our children and employees to lead until the water was shut off again, nearly four months later.