East Chicago School Shuts Down Over Lead Concerns
(CBS) -- A week before school is scheduled to start, hundreds of children in East Chicago, Ind. will have to go somewhere other than their parents planned.
CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports.
Safety concerns at Carrie Gosch Elementary School over lead poisoning has shut the school down and left 430 students to be shuttled elsewhere.
East Chicago Schools Superintendent Paige McNulty delivered the news to families on Monday with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials present. They confirmed that soil on a part of the school grounds is contaminated with lead.
Gosch, like the nearby West Calumet housing complex, was built on the former site of a toxic lead refinery.
McNulty says low enrollment prompted the closing. It's well below the average of 150 students that have usually been registered by this time.
"We've only had 92 kids registered for school so far, and we want students to feel safe, and we want parents to feel safe where their students are attending," McNulty said. "And we also just again want to err on the side of caution and do what's best for our staff and students."
Parent Latasha Cartwright said she was caught by surprise. "I feel like, you know, we should've known this ahead of time. School is next week. Like, why would you give somebody a late notice of transferring kids over to another school?"
"I'm confused of everything, 'cause this is the first thing I'm hearing about it. I thought school was supposed to open and I'm just now hearing about it at this meeting. So I'm kind of just lost," added parent Nikita Wilkerson.
Now, confused parents are being told that their children are being transferred to West Side School, which is the old middle school.
Officials say if the children need transportation, it will be provided, but there's been no word yet on when Carrie Gosch Elementary School will reopen.
