Alexandria school closed due to lead exposure

An elementary school in Alexandria will be closed through Tuesday and the city health department is recommending that students, faculty and staff get blood tests after officials said lead was found in the school building.

The cleaning process is expected to last through the end of the week. The city's schools were already scheduled to be closed Wednesday through Friday.

Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School was initially closed last Friday as a precaution, officials said, after lead ps were found in kindergarten and fourth-grade classrooms, along with the main office suite.

The school division later said the school would remain closed until Tuesday while the school was cleaned. The division initially shared resources from the city health department stating that families can get tested for lead in their blood with a health-care provider, and that an emergency room visit was not necessary for a test.

In another note to families Monday, the health department recommended that all students, staff and faculty at the school get tested.

Students have access to asynchronous learning activities that the city's school division planned for emergency closures.

Skip to end of carousel Make the most of the DMV with our newsletterMake living in D.C. a little easier and more fun. , weather and expert advice — where to eat, where to drink and how to get around — every weekday. End of carousel According to the letter to families, the lead was found after a contractor working on replacing windows in the school did not follow "appropriate mitigation efforts."

In a statement, Alexandria City Public Schools Chief Operating Officer Alicia Hart said it's common for lead paint to be present in buildings built before 1968, including Brooks. That's why it's important for mitigation efforts to limit the exposure to lead when construction could disturb the lead paint, Hart said.

The Alexandria school system was previously scheduled to be closed later in the week for a teacher work day, Rosh Hashanah and parent-teacher conferences. The conferences for Brooks Elementary will be held virtually.

The division said in its letter that once the cleaning at Brooks Elementary is complete, clearance testing will be conducted to confirm that lead-containing dust is no longer in the school. The test results must be verified before the school can reopen.

The state and city health departments will host a webinar for families Tuesday to answer questions.