In July, the State Comptroller’s office published an audit of the Pine Plains Central School District, examining its testing, reporting, and remediation of lead in its potable water outlets. Auditors reviewed records from July 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, 2024.
Superintendent Brian Timm presented the results to the School Board at its meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 5. The audit cited the district for “failing to properly identify, report, or implement needed remediation to reduce lead exposure in all potable (consumable) water outlets as required by NYS Public Health Law and Department of Health (DOH) regulations.”
But the report also found that all water outlets testing positive for lead had been either eliminated or properly repaired. Of 259 district water outlets tested across the district’s three schools — from Jan. 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021 — 50 had lead contamination significant enough to require action, such as removing or replacing pipes or faucets. Those and other outlets checked by the auditors had been satisfactorily remediated.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, any lead in drinking water is unsafe. It can cause neurologic problems in children that affect behavior and learning, as well as serious disease in adults, such as hypertension and kidney failure.
The 1991 Lead and Copper Rule set the actionable lead level at 15 parts per billion (ppb). New York State law reduced the level to level to 5 ppb in December 2022 — and mandated that schools test water for lead every three years. Before they were fixed, samples from Stissing Mountain High School labeled “Kitchen 8” and “Kettle 2” had levels of 19.5 and 25.2, respectively.
The audit also discovered 12 high school water outlets — 11 showers, and one concession stand sink — that had never been tested or properly secured. Although the school posted a “Not for drinking use” sign above the sink, DOH guidelines consider this fix inadequate. “These will be fully remediated by the time school starts,” Timm told the Herald. “We may shut down the showers, but referees do occasionally use them.”
The auditors made seven recommendations, including creating formal plans for lead testing and remediation, improved record keeping, and timely reporting of results. The district has 90 days to put these plans into place.
“We didn’t do our best job of creating a written plan on sampling and remediation,” Timm said. “We also didn’t report the testing results properly: They were sent to the Department of Health four days late during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Director of Facilities] Rich McKibben is developing a comprehensive action plan to take care of these problems.”
In other business, high school Athletic Director Les Funk presented plans to streamline the inventory of sports uniforms and equipment; start a student athletic council (made up of varsity team captains); update all coach certifications (required by the state Education Department); and reinstitute the Wall of Fame — defunct since 2013 — which honors outstanding athlete alumni. “Our focus in the coming year will be on sportsmanship,” Funk said.
Stissing Mountain Principal Christopher Boyd discussed rewording the 2025-26 Code of Conduct to reflect a change in sports participation requirements. Previously, students who failed two or more classes could attend 10 days of intensive tutoring to stay in their activity.
“Now, we’re going to check students’ academic progress every five weeks,” Boyd said. “This way, if a student has a problem, we can find out along the way and give them the support they need. The student will have five weeks to turn things around. Success in the classroom first, then bring that success to your athletics.”
The School Board approved the newly worded Code of Conduct and the 2025-26 District Wide Safety Plan, then authorized the $27,885,02 2025-26 tax levy, approved by voters on May 20.
Timm told the board that 54 pre-K students are already enrolled for the 2025-26 school year. “This is the COVID-19 group we anticipated would be bigger,” he said, referring to a predicted spike in pregnancy rate during the pandemic. There will be four sections of pre-K students instead of three, to accommodate late enrollees, Timm said. He expected this to be a one-time occurrence.
Finally, the board discussed its goals for the coming school year, including improved communication with the community at large, a regular school newsletter, and increasing publicity for the annual school budget vote. At its next meeting — at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 19 — the board will discuss and vote on a funding strategy for the district’s proposed capital projects.