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Announcements
Latest Announcements
Date: March 5, 2025
This email outreach was sent to notify all schools that MDE has developed several videos to help guide school personnel through the process of conducting testing for lead in drinking water as required at applicable schools under Maryland law. The videos cover various aspects of the testing process, including planning and preparation, sample collection, documentation and reporting, parent/guardian notification, and actions required if elevated levels of lead are discovered in drinking water outlets. -- Last day to register is Monday, March 17, 2025, at 5:00 PM EDT.
Date: August 28, 2024
This email outreach was sent to notify all schools that MDE has developed several videos to help guide school personnel through the process of conducting testing for lead in drinking water as required at applicable schools under Maryland law. The videos cover various aspects of the testing process, including planning and preparation, sample collection, documentation and reporting, parent/guardian notification, and actions required if elevated levels of lead are discovered in drinking water outlets.
Date: August 23, 2024
This email outreach was sent to remind the school of the September 15, 2024, deadline to report to MDE the results of standard/routine samples that were collected during the 2023-2024 school year.
As of January 7, 2025, MDE has verified a total of 92,003 first-draw lead sample results from 24 public school systems, 267 nonpublic schools, and 18 charter schools.
Of the 92,003 first-draw lead samples, 4,001 (4.35%) samples exceeded 20 ppb (i.e., previous Action Level effective through May 31, 2021): 2,034 (2.21%) were from drinking water outlets (i.e., consumption outlets) and 1,967 (2.14%) were from non-consumption outlets.
Of the 92,003 first-draw lead samples, 13,520 (14.7%) samples exceeded 5 ppb (i.e., current Action Level effective June 1, 2021): 8,534 (9.28%) were from drinking water outlets (i.e., consumption outlets) and 4,986 (5.42%) were from non-consumption outlets.
The following tables present the above information in greater detail and will be updated as more data become available.
Summary of First-Draw Sample Results for Public Schools
Summary of First-Draw Sample Results for Nonpublic Schools
Summary of First-Draw Sample Results for Charter Schools
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Deferrals of Initial Testing
Through the 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020 school calendar years, schools had the option of applying for a deferral in initial sampling for either twelve months or three years. MDE received 706 applications for a twelve-month deferral from initial testing, and, in consultation with MSDE, granted approval to 702 applications. The remaining four applications did not meet the requirements for approval. MDE received 122 applications for three-year deferrals in initial testing; no three-year deferrals were granted.
It is important to note that schools can no longer apply to defer the initial testing since all of the initial testing deadlines have passed.
Waivers
Schools may apply for one of three types of waivers from future testing: Type 1 (prior testing), Type 2 (bottled water) or Type 3 (lead-free building). Waivers are granted on a building-by-building basis; schools seeking waivers for multiple school buildings must apply for a waiver for each individual building. As of October 30, 2024, MDE has received 409 applications for waivers from testing; 79 have been approved, 120 did not meet the strict requirements for approval, three were withdrawn, and the remaining 207 are under review at this time. The table below enumerates approval status by waiver type.
Summary of Waiver Application Status
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Period ending July 1, 2024
Period ending July 1, 2023
Period ending July 1, 2022
Period ending July 1, 2021
Period ending July 1, 2020
Period ending July 1, 2019
Period ending July 1, 2018
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For full playlist of available videos, click
HERE!
When submitting test results and/or supporting documentation via email, please name the documents using the following format:
Name of form_name of school.
All documents related to test results should be sent to MDE at:
1800 Washington Blvd, Suite 450
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Standard/Routine Sampling
For each standard/routine sampling event, the following documents should be submitted to MDE:
Forms Related to Elevated Lead Sample Results
If your school has outlets with elevated lead results found during a standard/routine sampling event, the following forms should be submitted to MDE:
Follow-Up Sampling
For each follow-up sampling event (including required flush samples and follow-up post-remediation samples), the following documents should be submitted to MDE:
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Laboratory Results Reporting Form (EDD) (Latest version: 12/22/2021*****) - ALL test results (non-elevated AND elevated) must be included and reported on the EDD -- must be submitted electronically
- Sample Collection Form (Latest version: 10/19/2023)
- Laboratory Report (see
example)
- Chain of Custody (COC) Form should be included
- Public School Construction (PSC) #s
- To find the PSC # of your school, select “Facility Inventory Database” then select the “Facility Inventory” tab. Click the filter icon next to “Facility Name” to access the search tool to find your school. Your school’s PSC # will be listed as the letter “L” followed by the 2-digit county code, then the letter “F” and the 3-digit facility number. When completing all MDE documentation, please use the 2-digit county code followed by a period (“.”) and your school’s 3-digit facility number.
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Charter School IDs
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The 4-digit unique identification number portion of the Charter School ID can be found under "School #". This 4-digit unique identification number should be preceded by the 2-digit county code and a dash ("-"). The list of county codes can be found
here.
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Nonpublic School IDs
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Under your nonpublic school type (i.e., Private Pay, Publicly Funded Nonpublic, Church Exempt, or Montessori), click on the county in which your school is located. For a comprehensive list of schools within a specific nonpublic school type, click on the first bullet to access all schools for that school type. Schools are listed alphabetically with the corresponding Nonpublic School ID number, which can be found under the "Advanced Link Number". The "Search for schools" search box can also be used to search for your school.
If submitting waiver application(s) via email, please name the forms using the following format:
Name of form_name of school
All waiver applications must be sent to MDE via email at:
