No Drinking Water at School: What To Do

BCPSS leadership continues to reject common sense BTU proposals for drinking water guarantees, and we have included this issue in our impasse filing. However, these rejections do not remove City Schools’ obligation to provide potable drinking water to their employees. To push City Schools into compliance with OSHA and MOSH regulations, BTU supports the filing of MOSH complaints which should prompt inspections. Simply put, when a school runs out of jugged water and has no other source of drinking water that is provided by management, BTU staff will file a formal MOSH complaint. District negotiators are aware of a number of cases where we documented water failures, but current City Schools leadership does not care enough to make a formal commitment to staff and students. They have also rejected BTU’s proposal that charter schools provide water plans to the Office of New Initiatives (which oversees charters). Such plans are necessary since City Schools does not oversee charter facilities when they are independently owned, and a number of water issues have happened at charters. What to do when your school has no drinking water (there are no available jugs of water on school premises and there are no water fountains that provide potable water)? Contact your BTU Field Rep immediately to file a MOSH complaint, which BTU staff will complete.