OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — Oakland Public Schools is responding to what it calls a drinking water crisis in nearly two dozen schools in the district. Elevated levels of lead have been found in water on school campuses.

“We want more transparency. We demand more transparency,” said Stuart Loebl.

Loebl is a sixth-grade teacher at the Frick United Academy of Language in East Oakland.

Most of the drinking fountains at this public school are now closed and have signs saying “Do not drink the water.”

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Frick parents and staff received a letter from the school district last week saying water testing “found lead levels greater than 5 ppm in five fixtures at your school.” That’s three times the EPA’s recommended limit.

ABC7 News obtained the April 2024 water test report. Loebl questions why it took so long to notify parents and staff of the results.

“The lead was detected in a report that was published in April. The students attended this school, the summer school, and also drank this water, which is totally unacceptable and upsetting,” Loebl said.

District officials say Frick is one of 22 OUSD campuses where elevated lead levels have been found. Parents and teachers voiced their frustration at last week’s school board meeting.

“We demand clean drinking water for our students and transparency,” said Catherine Cotter, a consultant at Frick Academy.

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“This is a real crisis. We take it very seriously,” said Sam Davis, president of the Oakland School Board.

Davis says communication with schools needs to improve. He says the district has been doing intensive water testing since 2017 and is now taking steps to fix the problem.

“We need to make sure that testing is available to families to find out if they have been exposed to lead, and we need to invest in fixing the problem,” Davis said.

The district says new water filters and pipes will be installed on campuses and retested to meet safety standards.

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Cornell Barnard: “Do you think these schools are safe for teachers and children?”

Davis: “We have to keep them safe. This is our community.”

“Our buildings are old. We know we need to do regular testing to reduce contaminants. We need new buildings. We obviously can’t afford that,” said OUSD Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell.

Loebl wants a campus with clean drinking water. In the meantime, he hopes the community can help keep students hydrated.

“That’s why I’m calling on community partners to supply bottled water to our school campuses in Oakland,” Loebl said.