Oakland Unified School District began this school year with some unsettling news: the drinking water in the district’s schools had tested positive for dangerously high levels of lead.

The district had found high levels of lead in the water during tests conducted over spring and summer, but it didn’t share those results with parents and staff until this August.

Lead testing hasn’t been required in California schools for the last five years. That means Oakland Unified is unusual among California school districts in that it knows that there’s a lead problem at all.

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Education Beat is a weekly podcast. This episode is hosted by EdSource's Emma Gallegos and produced by Coby McDonald.