Lead poisoning fears for new Perth schools lands Education Minister in hot water

It's been an alarming start to the WA school year for hundreds of children and their parents, with taps turned off at some of Perth's newest schools because of fears of lead poisoning.

On Wednesday - the first day back at school for many - bottled water was handed out for children to drink and wash their hands with.

Now the blame game is underway as only one new school out of eleven was given the green light.

While Fremantle College got the tick of approval, five schools found elevated lead levels.

Those schools were Aspiri Primary in Piara Waters, Yanchep Secondary College, Oakwood Primary, Wellard Primary and Honeywood Primary School in Wandi.

Test results are still pending for Aveley North Primary, Aveley Secondary College, Doubleview Primary, Southern Grove Primary School in Southern River and one new country school in Margaret River, Rapids Landing Primary.

The cause of the lead problem isn't known but Education Minister Sue Ellery has ordered all 11 schools to be retested.

"I expect to get those results in coming days, I can't give you a precise timeline because frankly I was given a timeline last week and that was not met," Ellery said.

The Education Minister made the director general of her department Sharyn O'Neill stand beside her as she gave the department a dressing down.

"The Minister is rightly disappointed, we're all disappointed," O'Neill said.

It's the first time testing of new schools for lead contamination has been undertaken.

"It was always going to be a tight timeline, we've done our very best but at the end of the day it wasn't finished for day one," O'Neill said.

Parents were notified by text and letter.

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It now raises the question of whether all government schools should be tested for lead.

It's the third major embarrassment involving the Education Minister after backdowns on the new location for Perth Modern School and scrapping School of the Air.