Preston Hollow Elementary was one of three Dallas ISD campuses whose water quality testing results showed elevated levels of copper or lead in its drinking fountains. But that’s not what aggravates Nicole Foster, whose 10-year-old son attends the school. She is upset she learned about the testing, which was conducted three months ago, on Tuesday.

Her son was sent home with a letter about the issue four days after the Dallas Morning News already published an article highlighting the results of those tests.

The letter said DISD conducted the water quality testing “out of an abundance of caution.” Two independent vendors examined the water quality of randomly selected drinking fountains at each campus, and those with elevated levels of harmful chemicals were replaced and have undergone follow-up testing.

But the district’s belated communication left many parents, including Foster, questioning DISD’s transparency.

“To me, that’s much more alarming to have three, potentially four, months go by with no knowledge of there being a problem,” she says. “As a parent, I feel like that’s a DISD fail.”

We don’t know if the letter was a direct response to the article or whether the district planned to inform parents about the contaminated fountains independently. We’ve reached out to district spokeswoman Robyn Harris on Tuesday and are waiting for her response.

Preston Hollow trustee Dustin Marshall took to social media to tell families that the Dallas Morning News article only discussed the first-round testing results. It neglected to mention two rounds of testing that were conducted to determine which fountains needed to be replaced or fitted with new filters.

Out of seven campuses, second-round tests revealed only three campuses’ drinking water contained high levels of lead or copper, says Christopher Gray, DISD’s director of environmental health and safety.

One fountain at Preston Hollow Elementary tested high for copper, although Gray could not tell us when that secondary test was conducted. The fountain was then deactivated until it could be replaced over winter break, Dustin Marshall writes.

More than the results itself, Foster is concerned that DISD is not effectively sharing critical information with parents.

“They were just being dishonest. It makes me wonder what other things could be lurking … A lot of the infrastructure of Dallas ISD schools is old.”