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Butler working to get lead out

Lead found in water at intermediate school

The Butler School District found lead in the water of three sinks, including two at Butler Intermediate High School, and shut them off, Superintendent Brian White told the school board Monday night.

“We are turning off those fixtures, and we’re going to do more testing,” White said.

White said there may be more lead to find, but that of the 14 spots tested so far in the district’s buildings, only those three returned positive results.

The investigation of lead in the building’s water, White said, remains ongoing. He said so far the investigators believe “it’s not a facilitywide issue, it’s a localized issue.”

A report on the water testing shows that the three sinks in question are two sinks at the intermediate and one in the administration building. The two school sinks are labeled “Cafe C Front Sink” and “Room 115.”

This round of tests occurred Aug. 30 and was conducted by Eric Buzza of Gannett Fleming.

In coming weeks, the board plans to discuss replacing some water fountains with lead-filtering fountains as an extra precaution, White said. A timeline and a budget has yet to be addressed.

Emily Brittain roof

White also addressed problems with Emily Brittain Elementary School’s roof that were touched on in last week’s meeting.

“I need to clarify what failing means,” White said. “Failing means there might be leaks in the roof by the end of the winter. Which, there actually are some leaks in classrooms already and in some auxiliary spaces.”

White said they authorized spending $5,000 on a patch job to carry the building through the winter, and that a full roof replacement will likely cost in the ballpark of $700,000 and be needed in a year or two.

Caps and gowns

The board voted unanimously on a three-year contract for graduation caps and gowns from Oak Hall Cap and Gown for $26,784.

The plan is to stick to using both gold and white graduation outfits and to let the students choose which color they prefer.

No season tickets

The board effectively rejected an idea to offer season tickets to sporting events.

Nina Teff, board president, brought up a suggestion from a handful of parents who had asked that the board consider such a ticket pricing schedule. No board members believed there was much interest in such a program, and athletics staff research showed other school districts tend to not offer such programs.

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