Children lined up with their parents to get tested for lead exposure, outside Rose City Park School, June 6 2016.
Rob Manning / OPB
After two nights of screening hundreds of children and pregnant women for lead in their blood, Multnomah County health officials found two kids with elevated levels.
Parents have hammered Oregon's largest school district since last month over its response to finding lead in drinking water.
Portland Public Schools’ sharing of information has been slow and occasionally inaccurate after elevated lead levels turned up in two schools. Officials have turned off drinking fountains at all schools, provided bottled water and brought in Multnomah County to run blood screenings at the schools with lead discoveries: Rose City Park and Creston.
Out of a combined 519 people tested, just two kids at Rose City Park had elevated lead.
Related: Elevated Levels Of Lead Found At 3 Eugene Schools
"This has been a remarkable joint effort between Portland Public Schools and Multnomah County Health to provide information and results for a worried community,'' said Joanne Fuller, Health Department Director.
"As family after family left, you could just see the relief on their moms' and dads' faces.''
The Kelleys were among the relieved families.
Maura Kelley, an 8th grade student at the ACCESS Academy at Rose City Park School, waited nervously for test results Monday night. She explained that she regularly filled her water bottle at two of the lead-contaminated sinks.
“So like two of the sinks that have the highest lead are the counselor’s office and my social studies teacher’s, and her classroom is always super-warm, and the drinking fountains don’t work at all,” Kelley said.
Kelley, and her father Craig, didn't have to wait long for clinic doctor Erika Moseson to show them the screening results.
Jeff Strang of the Multnomah County Health Department gets ready to draw blood from ACCESS Academy 8th grader Maura Kelley to test for lead.
Jonathan House / Portland Tribune
“Your level is undetectable by our screen, so less than 3.3. (That’s) as low as it goes, so it could be anywhere from 3.2 down to zero,” Moseson explained. “Action level for anyone your age actually is above 5, it goes up to 10 once you’re hitting the adult. What questions can I answer for you?”
“None,” responded Maura Kelley with a smile.
“Just a relief to get the news,” said her father.
Multnomah County officials say the screenings at the two schools represent the biggest lead screening effort they've ever done. The county has offered to do more clinics.
District documents obtained by the media show dozens more Portland schools with elevated lead, over the years. Many Oregon districts are testing for lead in their water – including Portland, Beaverton and Eugene, all of which found lead this spring.