The lead crisis in Oakland’s schools

Last August, Oakland families began to receive disturbing reports about high amounts of lead in the drinking water at their children’s schools. Ashley McBride and Callie Rhoades get the receipts, going deep inside the Oakland Unified School District’s haphazard efforts to fix the problem — and its total communication meltdown when it came to informing principals, teachers, parents, and students. They also explain what the district is doing now to make things right — and guarantee safe water for its 34,000 students.Also in this episode: Esther Kaplan and Darwin BondGraham catch you up on more recent headlines, including a clubowner taking over Oakland’s abandoned Greyhound station, why the bar Couchdate is leaving downtown, and why stolen cars keep racking up Oakland parking tickets.Plus: Our arts and community reporter, Azucena Rasilla, lets you in on some of the coolest Oakland events happening over the next week and beyond. It’s the third episode! We’re experimenting with 10 episodes of a new weekly news show. This is a pilot — if we can keep this going, we will! Love it? Hate it? Want to sponsor it? Let us know: [email protected] nightclub group buys historic Oakland Greyhound stationLakeshore Avenue protected bike lane honors Oakland girl who died in collisionWhy is couchdate leaving downtown? It depends on who you askOakland will continue ticketing stolen cars for the foreseeable futureOUSD lead crisis: Internal records reveal panic and confusion among school leadersInside OUSD's haphazard response to an escalating lead crisisOaklandside events