The district is testing their six schools for presence of lead in their water as a precautionary measure
PRINCETON - The district announced this week that all six of Princeton's public schools will have their water tested - a decision that follows close on the heels of news about high levels of lead in the drinking water at Newark schools.
Princeton High School in a file photo. "We have no reason to be concerned about water quality in our schools," Princeton Schools Superintendent Steve Cochrane said in a statement released by the district Thursday. He went on to say the testing - which will be conducted the week of Spring break on March 25 - is just a precautionary measure. "(We) believe the data we obtain will be a helpful baseline," he said.
That precautionary measure comes very soon after routine testing conducted at Newark schools last week found that 30 of the district's schools had elevated levels of lead in their water.
Some tested as high as 35 times above the federal action limit for lead, officials announced this week.
Map: Which schools have elevated lead levels?
Princeton Schools plans to work with the town's Health Officer, Jeff Grosser in order to provide him with information on the results and to set up a protocol for the process, the district said in the statement. The testing will be conducted by an outside company, which will take multiple samples of the drinking water, according to Assenka Oksiloff, a representative with the school district.
The district does not know how much the testing will cost yet, Oksiloff said Thursday.
Testing will be held while students are on break from March 25-April 3. The district plans to make the results of the testing public around April 10, they said in a statement.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.