According to New York State Regulation Sub-Part 67-4, all school districts must regularly test for lead in their water systems. In line with recent updates to this sub-part, the acceptable parts per billion (PPB) reading for testing of lead in school drinking water was reduced from an acceptable amount of 15PPB to 5PPB. Following this change in acceptable levels, we tested our system. It is important to note that the deadline for this testing was not until December 21, 2025, with follow-up testing completed every three years. Cassadaga completed this task early in order to mitigate issues early, if testing showed that such measures were needed. Under the new lowered thresholds, we have faucets in both of our buildings that have tested above the minimally acceptable levels. Having received this information just Monday afternoon, we are making immediate adjustments as we seek interventions to mitigate lead levels under these new expectations. Please be advised of the following:
We received this information Monday afternoon and are moving swiftly to make adjustments. At this moment, we know that all of the impacted faucets are ones that were planned for removal or out of use at the time of testing. For example, SES installed bottle filling machines throughout the school building in recent years. The "drinking fountains" impacted at SES do not include any of these water points. The impacted fountains are outdated "bubblers" found in the classrooms that were planned for removal. We have shut off the valves at each and every one of the water sources that fell above the new level thresholds.
In addition to being shut off, the impacted faucets are being marked with a sticker that states "Do not use. Not potable."
Even if the faucets may have been out of use for some time, if the faucets were drinking water access points, we will have bottled water accessible for consumption in these areas.
Similar to our urgency to test early and mitigate swiftly, we also seek to be ahead of the curve and swift and transparent in our communications. Sub-Part 67-4 states that notification must go to staff, parents and the community within 10 days. We wanted to make sure that everyone had the information we had as quickly as possible. As such, we notified parents and our community immediately.
Be well,
Tammy Mangus
Superintendent of Schools
Cassadaga Valley Central School District