• Posted April 30, 2025

Milwaukee Closes More Schools to Address Lead Crisis

WEDNESDAY, April 30, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Milwaukee will temporarily close two more elementary schools as it works to tackle a lead crisis in its public school buildings.

The school district announced Monday that Westside Academy and Brown Street School will close for repairs. Two other schools — Starms Early Childhood Education Center and LaFollette School — had already been closed. So far, nine schools have been flagged for lead hazard work, and students are being moved while repairs are being made, CNN reported.

The city’s school district and health department are checking about 100 schools built before 1978, when lead was banned in paint. They expect inspections and repairs to continue through the summer.

Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said 54 schools built before 1950 are scheduled to be cleaned before the next school year. Another 52 schools built between 1950 and 1978 are expected to be cleaned by year's end.

“We are asking families to remain vigilant and to please have their children tested for lead exposure,” Cassellius said. Families can use their doctor or pop-up clinics organized by the city.

Lead is dangerous even at low levels. High levels can cause nausea, vomiting and seizures. Lower levels can harm a child’s brain, affecting learning, attention and behavior, CNN reported.

The district's new plan starts with a visual inspection of every building. Schools are then rated as low, medium or high risk. Those at medium or high risk will get extra testing and may need full or partial closures for cleanup. 

The district is also creating a plan to test adults who work in the buildings, like custodians.

The city had been working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on a testing plan, but that support ended after the CDC’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program was cut. The CDC also turned down Milwaukee's request for emergency help from epidemiologists, due to the cuts.

“Obviously, in this case, we no longer had the expertise at CDC to support that request,” Eric Pevzner, chief of the CDC’s epidemiology and laboratory branch, told CNN.

Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore recently urged U.S. health officials to restore CDC lead experts, writing, “You have the ability to immediately rectify this issue, and we urge you to do so."

The crisis came to light after a student tested positive for high lead levels late last year. No major sources were found in the child’s home, but peeling lead paint and lead dust were found in the child's school. 

Since then, three more students with elevated lead levels have been reported, though it’s unclear if their schools are the source, CNN said.

“As everyone understands, when we do receive a referral or a complaint, we have to discern whether it’s a poisoning from their home or a secondary address affiliated with that family, or if it’s tied to the school, so those investigations can take a lot of time,” Michael Totoraitis, Milwaukee’s commissioner of health, said.

He also explained that acute exposure to lead, like eating flaking paint, usually shows up in blood tests within a month. Chronic exposure, like breathing lead dust, takes longer to appear.

“It might be kind of scary, but we have a really good track record of seeing those levels come down if they do test high,” Totoraitis added.

Usually, only babies are screened for lead at 1 and 2 years of age, but the city is considering expanding screening to older children. Milwaukee schools and the health department are offering school-based lead testing clinics, with the next one scheduled for May 7.

More information

The World Health Organization has more on lead poisoning.

SOURCE: CNN, April 28, 2025