What Flint’s superintendent did to protect children from lead

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JUDY WOODRUFF: Next: an update on how schools in
Flint, Michigan, are coping with lead problems, and what the
city’s school superintendent did to protect children from
exposure, while making sure their education wasn’t interrupted.


The district was already facing declining enrollment, financial
problems and falling test scores. Lead is especially dangerous to
young children, having the potential to impair brain development
and cause behavioral changes.


The Flint School District began making changes even before other
city officials.


Special correspondent Kavitha Cardoza, with our partner Education
Week, has this report. It’s part of our weekly series Making the
Grade.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: It’s been two years since
alarmingly high levels of lead were found in Flint children.


MARY JOHNS, Kindergarten Teacher, Eisenhower
Elementary School: Everybody, what’s this word?


KAVITHA CARDOZA: Mary Johns has taught
kindergarten for 12 years. She’s now seeing the impact up of lead
poisoning.


MARY JOHNS: I had a student in kindergarten last
year. He wasn’t progressing like I thought he should physically,
mentally. He just wasn’t. He tested highly positive for lead
poisoning. Just from last year to this year, you just see the
change in him completely.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: Johns sees differences in
behavior, too. Another symptom?


MARY JOHNS: Sometimes, they get agitated easily.
Sometimes, they get angry easy, a lot easier than they used to.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: Superintendent Bilal Tawwab is
leading a comprehensive effort to mitigate the effects of lead on
children.


BILAL TAWWAB, Superintendent, Flint Community
Schools: We have been focusing on hiring support staff for our
students, additional social workers, school psychologists, speech
pathologists, behavior specialists.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: Signs of the effort are
everywhere.


Meditation classes calm students showing signs of anxiety. Swivel
chairs have been added for fidgety kids. Hand wipes are available
for those children who still can’t bathe at home. And along with
free bottled water everywhere, there’s free breakfast.


BILAL TAWWAB: As you know, there are
lead-mitigating foods that our children can consume, and so we
have been very intentional in developing a diet for our children.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: The problem began three years
ago. Flint changed to a new water system, the Flint River, to
save money. This water flowing through the aging pipes caused
lead, a neurotoxin that affects brain development, to seep into
the water system.


Health officials estimate tens of thousands were affected, many
of them children. Bilal Tawwab had been named the new
superintendent of Flint schools a few months earlier.


BILAL TAWWAB: I knew I was coming into a
situation which was going to be a heavy lift. You have a district
which some would say is failing academically. We had a huge
decline in enrollment over the past few years, financial crises.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: Then, things got worse.
Pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha conducted a study before and
after Flint’s water source was changed. It showed the percentage
of children with elevated blood lead levels essentially doubled.
This wasn’t an announcement state officials wanted to hear.


DR. MONA HANNA-ATTISHA, Pediatrician: I was
being attacked by the state. So, the state was saying that, hey,
you’re wrong. This research is not true. You’re causing near
hysteria. The state’s numbers don’t match my numbers.


So my credibility, this data, this science was being attacked.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: But Tawwab took her warning
seriously. He ignored possible political backlash, as well as
concerns about costs, and turned off all school taps. He ordered
schools to switch to bottled water.


DR. MONA HANNA-ATTISHA: It was very brave and
courageous of him to stand up for kids, and to use his power as a
superintendent to say, hey, we don’t know what’s going on.
There’s a potential of this going on. So let’s err on the side of
caution, and let’s protect children.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: Government funds and
philanthropy pay for the school district’s programs to mitigate
the effects of lead poisoning. All the bottled water is donated.
Tawwab says working with partners is essential.


BILAL TAWWAB: It starts with a leader who’s
willing to collaborate to bring everyone to the table. You can’t
go in as the leader feeling as if you have all of the answers.
No. You don’t want to do that. You want folks to come in and be
able to collaborate, and come up with the solution together.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: He insists that the water
crisis shouldn’t stand in the way of the district’s essential
job, teaching.


BILAL TAWWAB: I can’t look at a child and say,
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to educate you that year because we were
dealing with a water crisis. That’s not a fair excuse.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: But the crisis is far from
over.


WOMAN: Girls, do you want some water?


KAVITHA CARDOZA: Most of the city is still
without drinkable water. Health officials are facing criminal
charges. And it’s unclear how long government aid will last.


Worst of all, pediatrician Hanna-Attisha expects to see signs of
lead poisoning, especially among those who have not yet started
school.


DR. MONA HANNA-ATTISHA: This is an irreversible
neurotoxin. There is no magic pill. There is no antidote for this
exposure. But there is a lot that we can do to mitigate the
impact of this exposure.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: Through it all, though, the
superintendent remains optimistic. During Tawwab’s tenure, the
graduation rate has improved, though it’s still below the
national average. Test scores have gone up slightly. Enrollment
is up, and there are plans to open new schools.


BILAL TAWWAB: You have kids who are excited to
be in school. You have teachers who are excited to be teaching.
We do not want to let this crisis define this community. It’s not
going to happen.


KAVITHA CARDOZA: I’m Kavitha Cardoza with
Education Week for the PBS NewsHour.


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