Lead Contamination Spurs Closure of 17 Classrooms

NORTH HOLLYWOOD —  Los Angeles Unified School District officials closed 17 classrooms at Walter Reed Middle School on Thursday after discovering lead contamination.

The school will remain open today, district spokesman Shel Erlich said. Students displaced from the contaminated areas will be moved into the cafeteria, gymnasium and other rooms.

Environmental inspectors found lead residue on the floors and window ledges of some rooms, possibly from lead-based paint disturbed during school renovation and repair work, officials said.

Erlich said the health risk to Reed’s 2,000 students was unclear but said health experts consider lead dangerous when ingested, which is more of a risk for young children and toddlers than middle school students.

“I don’t think that there would be much exposure,” Erlich said.

Lead poisoning can also cause learning disabilities and serious health problems if the substance is inhaled over long periods of time at high levels. The affected classrooms are believed to be at least 30 years old, school officials said.

The discovery marked the second time this month that inspectors detected an environmental danger inside a Valley school. On March 3, district officials closed Chatsworth High School after finding asbestos, a carcinogenic fiber once commonly used as a fire retardant.

Asbestos is embedded in the floor tiles and ceilings of many older buildings. It is generally considered harmless unless released into the air.

With a rash of Proposition BB school construction projects underway across the district, problems involving environmental hazards are cropping up more frequently as contractors thread classrooms with computer wiring and install air-conditioning, among other projects.

Such work is being done at Reed Middle School, situated at 4525 Irvine Ave., district officials said. Suspecting his school might be similarly affected, Reed Principal Lawrence Tash asked inspectors from the district’s Environmental Health and Safety Branch to examine the campus for asbestos, Erlich said.

Instead of asbestos, inspectors found the lead residue. Students were given a letter to take home to parents Thursday. The school’s automated telephone system is also contacting parents to explain the situation.