The Meramec Valley School District is committed to the safety and well-being of our students and staff. In 2022, the State of Missouri passed the Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act (RSMo 160.077) to ensure that the drinking water in the schools are below five (5) parts per billion (ppb). Research has shown that lead exposure in children can have adverse health effects including behavioral problems, brain and neurological development, impaired growth, and reproductive complications.

The new act requires Missouri school districts to test all drinking water sources for lead and to remedy any of those sources that test above 5 ppb by the first day students return to school in August 2024. An inventory of drinking water outlets and the plan for testing those sources must be shared with the public on the district’s website by January 1, 2024.

MVR-III plans to be proactive in this endeavor and will have 137 water outlets throughout 12 district buildings tested by SCI Engineering, Inc., of St. Charles, MO, over the 2023 winter break. Any building constructed after January 4, 2014 is not required to test for lead. This will exclude Doris Hoffman Early Learning Center from testing as that particular building was built in 2018.

Water outlets that test below 5 ppb will only require retesting every five years. Those that test above the standard will either be taken out of commission or fit with a filter to attain the satisfactory levels. Those same modified outlets will be retested to ensure that the efforts were successful. Test results and remediation plans will be available on the district’s website within two weeks of receiving the results and will be reported to the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).