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‘City of Roses’
Volume XLV
Number 35
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • August 31, 2016
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Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo by M ark W ashington J r ./t he p ortland o bserver
All drinking fountains in Portland Public Schools have been covered or made inoperable and water dispensers have been made available at every building for the start of
school to ensure that all students and staff have safe drinking water.
A safe water
promise as
classes begin
C ervante p ope
t he p ortland o bserver
Portland Public Schools opened the new
school year Monday with an emphasis on
fixing the lead found in drinking fountains
and water taps across the district and pro-
viding clean water dispensers in every
school to avoid infecting students.
A video posted to the PPS Communi-
cation Youtube page features Senior Di-
rector of Facilities and Asset Management
David Hobbs detailing the plans as school
officials journey to install permanent solu-
tions.
Earlier this year, information snow-
by
Fixing
the
Taps
balled to the public in regards to hidden
issues on the presence of lead in PPS water
faucets, leaving parents and children alike
with elevated concern. Two main factors
of their concern involve the water students
and staff consume through drinking foun-
tains and food.
Since all drinking fountains in PPS
buildings are shut down, about 1,000 water
jug systems will be available for use with
paper cup dispensers, Hobbs says in the
video.
The paper cups will create will create
some waste because they are not recycla-
ble due to a wax lining, according to PPS
spokesperson Courtney Westling. But stu-
dents can bring reusable water bottles to
use as an alternative to the disposable cups.
The big empty water jugs will be re-
cycled through the district’s water vendor
Earth2O, and not by PPS directly, Westling
says. Students are encouraged to ask for
custodian and other building staff’s aid in
switching the jugs out whenever they are
empty.
Safe water usage in school kitchens was
the next issue to tackle, leading PPS to
continue a policy it started before the start
of summer vacation, using prewashed food
C ontinued on p age 4