At a conference in Flint today officials and national experts are discussing how to reduce childhood exposures to health hazards found in school environments and restoring confidence in school drinking water systems.
Claire Barnett is the executive director of the Healthy Schools Network, a New York based group that promotes healthy environments in schools.
Problems range from lead in school drinking fountains to crumbling buildings are getting worse nationally.
But Barnett says not every solution is expensive, “There are a lot of different things, a lot of different issues, but many, many different solutions. All of them are not necessarily as complex as lead, but you are leading the country on what to do with lead.”
Flint schools continue to deal with the effects of the city’s lead tainted water crisis.
Billionaire Elon Musk recently donated nearly a half million dollars to pay for new water fountains with filtration systems at all Flint schools.
The new water fountains should be in place by the end of January.
While tests show water in Flint schools meet acceptable standards district officials say they want the water quality to be above the standard.
The conference comes the day before a U.S. Conference of Mayors summit in Flint on water issues.