MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Public Schools’ families say they want answers and the truth about federal efforts to address the district’s lead crisis inside several schools.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Milwaukee health department contradicts HHS secretary's claim of federal lead crisis support
The district and Milwaukee health leaders are refuting claims from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that a federal team is on the ground in Milwaukee to address the issue.
Four MPS schools found to be contaminated with lead paint remain closed as the school year winds down.
Luecrisha Scales’ granddaughter goes to Starms Early Childhood Center where lead cleanup efforts just ended.
“I was very concerned because I had taken her to the doctor and they detected lead in her system and I didn’t know where it was coming from possibly so to find out the schools have lead, yeah, that was concerning,” Scales said.
For months, the health department and MPS have collaborated to remove lead from 10 schools.
H.H.S. Secretary Kennedy Jr. told senators on Tuesday that a federal team is helping with those efforts.
“In Milwaukee, we have a team in Milwaukee and we’re giving laboratory support to the analytics in Milwaukee and we’re working with the health department in Milwaukee,” he told a senate subcommittee.
Milwaukee Public Schools said ‘RFK is mistaken.”
The Milwaukee Health Dept. told TMJ4, “There is no team from HHS or CDC in Milwaukee assisting with the MPS lead hazard response.”
Mayor Cavalier Johnson said the false claims make him furious.
“It’s a lie and it’s a slap in the face to those kids and those families in Milwaukee,” he said.
A Milwaukee Health Dept. spokesperson told TMJ4 the only federal involvement was a visit earlier this month from one CDC lab employee who helped them onboard equipment.
Mayor Johnson said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, known as the C.D.C., denied the city’s request for lead poisoning experts to address contamination.
Watch: MPS families want answers after district says RFK Jr. falsely claimed federal team is helping with lead crisis
“We’ve got kids in Milwaukee who have suffered from lead poisoning and there are experts in the federal government, in H.H.S., in C.D.C. that could have been here on the ground providing that additional support to amplify what we’re able to do at the local level and instead, it’s not,” Mayor Johnson said.
Back at Starms, Scales said she has a message for Kennedy Jr.
“I think he should be honest and transparent about what’s going on and if he still needs to send a team to Milwaukee, then he should do that and just don’t say it, do it,” she said.
We’ve reached out to the White House to request an interview with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about lead abatement efforts in Milwaukee We'll let you know if that happens.
We received a statement from H.H.S. that says: “At the request of the Milwaukee Health Department Laboratory (MHDL), CDC is assisting with validating new lab instrumentation used for environmental lead testing. Staff from MHDL are focused on the lead response and other routine testing while CDC will assist with testing validation, laboratory quality management, and regulatory requirement documentation to onboard the new laboratory instrument.”
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