By Donald Gilpin

Water samples from seven drinking fountains in the four Princeton public elementary schools have recorded levels of lead that exceed acceptable level, as determined by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).

The seven fountains have been turned off —four had already been inactive for three years and were reactivated only for testing purposes, and the other three were turned off as soon as the results were reviewed. The older non-working fountains will be replaced, and water will be tested again to ascertain its safety before the fountains will be approved for use of students and staff, the district reported.

Lead testing for schools’ drinking water is mandated every three years by the New Jersey Department of Education. The Princeton Public Schools (PPS) tested all 238 units in the six Princeton schools between December 2024 and January 2025.

Seven of those units exceeded the NJDEP’s acceptable level of 15 parts per billion (ppb — parts of lead per billion parts of water). The complete, detailed testing results can be found on the Facilities Department page of the district website (princetonk12.org), along with an explanatory “Exceedance Letter” from Director of Operations David Harding, posted on March 26.

When the testing was done in the 2021-22 school year, there were 35 elevated samples, and at that time each device was either shut down/isolated, removed, or replaced. Testing was repeated before students or staff were allowed to use the fountain.

PPS Interim Superintendent Kathie Foster sent out an email letter to PPS parents and guardians last week noting the water testing results and the remediation plan, and apologizing for not informing the community sooner.

“On behalf of the district, I apologize for the delay in communicating these test results,” she wrote. “Please know that we truly care about the safety and well-being of our students and staff and understand the importance of timely communication. My colleagues and I resolve that we will all do better in the future.”

She also stated, “As part of our sustainability efforts, we are replacing water fountains with bottle filling stations, and we encourage students and staff to bring reusable water bottles to school.”

The three drinking fountains that had been in use prior to the arrival of the unacceptable test results were located at Riverside, Littlebrook, and Johnson Park elementary schools. They had the lowest levels of the PPS fountains that exceeded the acceptable level of 15 ppb, with the Riverside water fountain registering a concentration of 15.2 ppb, Littlebrook 19.7 ppb, and Johnson Park 24.6 ppb.

“One of the causes of elevated levels is lack of use,” the district noted in an April 8 email. “In 2020, the district began installing filtered bottle filling stations and water fountains in all six school buildings. We have been transitioning staff and students away from the older fixtures in the classrooms. According to the teachers in the three remaining classrooms, students rarely use the fountains, preferring to use the water stations instead. They use the sink faucet only for hand washing.”

Business Administrator/Board Secretary Matt Bouldin noted the district’s prompt remediation measures, and added, “It is our understanding that, typically, it is lead soldering or traces of lead in the actual device that can create the issue. It is not the water in the whole system, but isolated occurrences with older fixtures.”

District officials stated, “We have been in communication with the Department of Health and our school physician. We do not believe there was a risk to students or staff.”