NC schools, day cares closer to starting lead and asbestos testing

State education leaders approved temporary rules Thursday telling schools and child care facilities how they must test for lead and asbestos in their buildings.

The testing is required under language placed in the state budget passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Roy Cooper last November.

The legislation provides $150 million one-time funds, using federal COVID-19 stimulus money, for testing and for possible abatement of the substances, if found. About $32.8 million would go toward testing for lead in drinking water, and about $117.2 million would go toward testing for lead in paint and for the presence of asbestos.

With the potential to discover widespread problems in North Carolina, state Department of Public Instruction officials and State Board of Education members said they were concerned about whether schools would be able to afford to respond to the findings. Leftover funds can be used toward fixing problems, but it’s unclear how costly the problems found would be.

“We do know that $117 million is a lot of money,” said Kim Lawson, DPI’s section chief over plant operations. “But (for) lead and asbestos abatement, I don’t think it even scratches the surface.”

The State Board of Education approved temporary rules for conducting testing for lead in drinking water and in paint for testing of the presence of asbestos in buildings.

The temporary rules were drafted by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and required approval from the Commissioner for Public Health, the Child Care Commission and the State Board of Education.

Officials still need to draft permanent rules in the next 270 days that will likely include revisions, and they must additionally draft rules on how to implement the testing and abatement programs.

Testing for lead in water would be done on all drinking water and food preparation taps at every school, Summer Tonizzo, a DHHS spokeswoman, told WRAL News.

Nearly all child care facilities have already tested their water for lead under a state rule. So the new program would have the biggest impact on schools, which had never previously been required to test their water for lead.

The state still needs to hire vendors to conduct the testing. After that, testing could begin as soon as this summer and would last two years, Tonizzo said.

All schools and child care facilities are required to do the testing, per the new law.

They are not required to fix any problems found but, under already existing laws, would be required to restrict people’s access to contaminated spaces. For example, a drinking fountain with lead detected would have to be taped off, or a classroom with lead paint would have to be closed and schools would have to find another room or building to use instead.

North Carolina child care centers are already required to test for lead in drinking water under a recent state rule change, according to North Carolina Health News.

North Carolina schools must test for asbestos and form multi-year asbestos abatement plans, and it’s unclear how the new law would add to what schools and child care facilities already do. State education officials told the State Board of Education they need to conduct more research on that.

Schools and child care facilities can also use funds to get rid of asbestos found in the schools, but to do so, they’d have to provide a match to state funding. The state would provide $2 for every $1 the school provides.

That’s another concern education officials have — that schools would be able to afford the match. That’s a concern Board Member Amy White has, on top of how schools will find new rooms or buildings to offer Instruction. She’s worried they may not have another building to use and that many schools are old enough to have been built with asbestos.

White urged leaders to speak “early and often” with school districts so they understand students could need to be moved.

“We know that is a very very difficult task,” White said. “You might have an empty building but it’s zoned for industrial. You’re going to have a lot of very upset parents, teachers and administrators who have no place [to learn.]"

Schools are not required to test for lead in drinking water or in paint. Health advocates have long pushed for requiring testing, and voluntary testing so far indicates the potential of widespread lead in drinking water across North Carolina.

Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools tested for lead at some of its schools in 2018 and found lead levels in dozens of them that exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s threshold of 15 parts per billion, according to WFAE. North Carolina last July lowered its threshold to 10 parts per billion.

Cumberland County Schools found high lead levels in one elementary school last June.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that child care facilities were required to develop asbestos management plans and that they were not required to test for lead in water. Only schools are required to have asbestos management plans, and only schools were not required to test for lead in water.