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Documents newly released by Portland Public Schools today begin to paint a fuller picture of when top officials grew concerned about lead in the drinking water.
Emails the district release show Superintendent Carole Smith was told in March the district would test for lead at the Rose City Park Building—the day the tests occurred.
That's new information. But it doesn't conflict with Smith's statements that she didn't know until May 25 what the results of those lead tests were.
Smith has said she began in March to develop a budget proposal for testing for lead in all schools this summer.
In documents PPS released to WW today, there's no indication Smith was alerted to the results before May 25—when Smith said she first learned about the results.
Questions about when Smith knew about lead tests have been at the center of controversy that erupted last month when the school district admitted it had been slow to respond to elevated lead levels at two school buildings.
Today, Portland Public Schools released more than 900 pages of communications in response to a public records request by WW.<
They include a chain of emails that show when Smith's office first engaged in the lead discussion.
Smith's chief of staff, Amanda Whalen, learned on March 21 that the tests would be conducted; that's the day before samples of water at all sinks and fountains were taken. Whalen forwarded the email to Smith the next day.
In a March 21 email, senior environmental manager Andy Fridley reminded Whalen of an apparent conversation earlier in the day, noting the cost would be $20 a sample, for a total of $1,000.
Fridley also told Whalen when the results were expected: "by the week of April 4."
She forwarded the email chain to Smith on March 21.
Whalen tells WW she never followed up.
"It's not the type of thing I would have followed up on," Whalen says, noting it was the kind of thing she expected she "would have heard about it."
Willamette Week