The protest was a response to OUSD’s delay in raising the issue of contaminated water in their schools.
District officials were informed of high levels of lead in the water as early as April. However, they did not tell their community of the danger until after the school year began four months later in August. OUSD has acknowledged this miscommunication in a statement saying they are now “putting systems in place” to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.
“Get The Lead Out Of OUSD” is one of the groups that organized the rally. Member Ella Every-Wortman explained that the protest aimed to address City Hall officials in addition to OUSD, to present the crisis not only as a school issue but a community and city issue that affects everyone.
The coalition group is not satisfied with OUSD's lack of specifics in their proposed fix, and plan to continue demonstrations to bring attention to the issue.
Their list of demands for the district include testing all OUSD water sources immediately and annually, as well as testing soil on OUSD property. They are also asking the district to provide free blood testing for anyone who may have been impacted by the contaminated water.
