Work to begin replacing water fixtures at Portland Public Schools will begin next week at Astor K-8.
Plumbers will start working at Astor, 5601 N. Yale St., at 4:00 p.m. on August 30.
At least some fixtures at all 90 PPS schools will be replaced, to ensure that students have access to drinking water that does not have unacceptable levels of lead. Work will be done when students are not present.
Astor is part of the first wave of 15 schools to be addressed. They are: Lewis, Woodstock, Chapman, Skyline, West Sylvan, Atkinson, Richmond, Rose City Park, Sacajawea, Beverly Cleary/Fernwood, Astor, Applegate, Chief Joseph, Meek, and Hayhurst.
The first group of schools was chosen using a number of factors: they are spread across the district representing every high school cluster, and the work can be done with minimal disruption from plumbing crews and water shut-offs. Schools serving younger children were given priority.
Plumbers will replace non-classroom fixtures. Classroom sinks and drinking fountains will remain off-limits, and will be replaced as part of a larger plan to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (also funded by the bond).
Once the fixtures are replaced, they will be tested again for lead. If unacceptable levels remain, there is a plan to do further remediation, including pipe replacement. Until fixtures are replaced at each school, students and staff will continue to drink bottled water.
These 15 schools are just the first group as PPS works to replace all fixtures found to have unhealthy lead levels. The next group of 15 will start roughly six weeks after the first group. That list will be released when it is finalized.
The fixture replacement work is budgeted for $28 million as part of the planned health and safety work totaling $150 million from the 2017 bond.