Voluntary and proactive testing by the Vigo County School Corp. facilities department uncovered some schools’ water that had traces of lead and copper concentrations.
The issue was caught and immediately addressed with an outside company and the plan was shared with the Vigo County Health Department, according to a VCSC news release.
Nine schools have already been tested and remediated, with plans to test the remaining VCSC schools this academic year, as soon as possible, officials say.
Each year, the VCSC performs a “cold drinking water assessment” in a number of buildings on a three-year rotation, which involves samples collected at drinking fountains and sinks in food/ consumption preparation locations.
John Newport, deputy superintendent, addressed the matter during Monday’s board meeting. Testing took place in July and the district received a full report in early September.
Everything is safe for drinking and cooking, Newport said, responding to a question from board president Amy Lore.
Five schools — DeVaney, Deming, Terre Haute North, Ouabache and Terre Town — had some water samples that included elevated lead samples above the state action level.
ACM Engineering recommended changing the faucets and valves at the location of each sample and flushing the faucet for 10 minutes.
That action has been completed and a resampling will take place in early November, according to the school district.
Seven schools and a staff building — DeVaney, Fuqua, Otter Creek, Deming, Terre Haute North, Ouabache, Terre Town, facility operations — had samples where copper was equal to or exceeded the state copper action level.
ACM Engineering recommended flushing the faucets at each location for three hours. This action has already been completed and a resampling will take place in early November.
Sugar Creek Consolidated did not have elevated levels of lead or copper.
At each school tested, representatives samples of cold drinking water were collected.
With this year’s voluntary testing, as advised by the Vigo County Health Department, a “best practice” approach was used, in which two samples were taken from each fixture.
The first sample used a new process implemented this year, a “first draw,” taken from taps used for consumption.
EPA recommends samples be taken after an 8-18 hour stagnation period in which the taps aren’t used. The second sample was a “flush sample” taken after one minute of flush.
Nine schools in total were tested for lead and copper concentrations.
For every location with elevated lead levels, it was with the “first draw” and not for the “flush sample.”
The entire 350-page report will be on the district website Tuesday.
As VCSC continues to test each school’s water, plans continue for the corporation to implement a “flush” protocol on all fixtures that are used for consumption over fall break, winter break, spring break, and summer break.
Given the data collected with the new procedures for the “first draw” sample, the VCSC will gather a new baseline of data for all fixtures throughout the district.
Although schools are tested on a three-year rotation, VCSC will not wait for this rotation to complete testing of all schools, the district stated in its release.
The remaining school facilities will be tested this school year pending scheduling with ACM Environmental.
Also Monday, the board adopted a $172 million 2025 budget, which now goes to the state Department of Local Government Finance for review.
The budget adopted by the board represents budget parameters, or maximums, subject to final action and reductions by the DLGF.
The overall budget includes $105 million for the education fund; $45.1 million for the operations fund; nearly $11.9 million for the debt service fund; $8.8 million for the referendum fund and new this year, $800,000 for the Inland Casino Fund.
The $800,000 is an estimate of funds that may be generated next year from the casino tax.
The proposed budget is up 4.3% over the 2024 approved budget, but the district expects reductions in the operations, debt and the referendum fund during the state review process.
The advertised proposed maximum tax rate is $1.18 per $100 assessed value — about 5 cents lower than what was proposed last year. The actual 2024 tax rate is just under 98 cents per $100 assessed value.
After adjustments are made, the district expects the final tax rate to be similar to the 2024 tax rate.
The Rainy Day Fund had nearly $13 million as of Sept. 30. No budget expenditure is being proposed for 2025. It is a fund supported by transfers from other funds in an effort to set aside dollars for board-directed initiatives.
If there is a need to expend funds from the Rainy Day fund in 2025, the administration would request board adoption of an additional appropriation, district officials have stated.
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