Beginning Thursday, the students and staff at Summit Elementary School in Summit Township were given bottled water and told not to drink the water from fountains on the property.

Dr. Dale Lumley, superintendent, said that the steps were taken in response to elevated lead readings from the well.

Lumley said that elevated readings were first detected last September by the Butler School District's maintenance supervisor, who had been working with the state Department of Environmental Protection to address the test results of the water in the building.

“We had readings in August with significantly high levels of lead,” he said, “but those results were not shared with me or the board until (Thursday).

When Lumley learned Thursday that the district's response to DEP procedures were, what he called, untimely and inadequate, he ordered that bottled water must be used until future test results indicate acceptable levels. Well water at the site can continue to be used in the restrooms, but hand sanitizers and wet-wipes are being used for hand-washing.

He said the district would continue to provide bottled water or commercial water dispensers until further testing and correction plans are implemented and monitored.

The district is working with the DEP, a water testing company CWM, Gannett Fleming Engineers, as well as health and water purification consultants, to take corrective actions.