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On August 3, 2022, the District was notified by the principal at Warren Hills Elementary that she had been made aware that there were, seemingly, an inordinate number of cancer diagnoses received by her staff in recent years.  In response, LPS administration quickly engaged with the Clay County Public Health Center, the State of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the Missouri Cancer Registry and Children’s Mercy Hospital to determine how best to address, and respond to, this potential public health concern. What follows is an overview of the action steps taken by the District, and the respective public health officials, in response to this concern.

The community approved a bond issue in 2004 that included the funding necessary to construct a new LPS elementary school, soon to be called Warren Hills, that was completed and opened in August, 2006. Prior to becoming a school campus, this site was a homestead operated by the Warren family for generations.  In reviewing the site’s history, the only structures ever found on site were a house and pond, identified on the property beginning in the 1800’s, and the property remained a homestead and pastures until LPS purchased the site in 2002. 

In January of 2006, the City of Liberty approved the construction of a 120’ T-Mobile cell tower to be located on the Warren Hills campus. Later that year, the District approved a lease agreement with T-Mobile that allowed the construction of the tower to move forward. 

In 2015, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services commissioned a Radon Testing study of several LPS schools and found no issues of concern at Warren Hills. The study concluded that there were no remediation actions required at the school. 

MHSS Radon Testing Report

It was brought to the District’s attention in August of 2022 that there were several Warren Hills staff members who had been diagnosed with cancer in recent years. We quickly reached out to the team at the Children’s Mercy Environmental Health Program, the State of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (MDHSS) and to the Clay County Public Health Center (CCPHC) to seek their guidance.  All three of these organizations were quick to engage and assist and made known that the inquiry would be conducted in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidelines for Investigating Suspected Cancer Clusters. The District was asked to provide de-personalized, anonymized data (to ensure compliance with HIPAA) of those diagnosed with cancer so that the epidemiology teams at CCPHC and MDHSS could commence an inquiry. On October 3, 2022, the District was informed by MDHSS and CCPHC that they had completed their analysis and found that "there is no evidence to suggest that the breast cancer rate at Warren Hills is higher than expected, which means no further environmental investigation is warranted." They concluded that there is no cancer cluster at Warren Hills and considered the matter closed. This information was shared with the Warren Hills team in writing and also at a meeting held with Warren Hills staff in late November of 2022. 

2022 CCPHC Report

CDC Guidelines

Prior to receiving the CCPHC report in October, 2022, the District commissioned Axiom Environmental Strategies in September to conduct an air quality test and a water quality test at Warren Hills. In both cases, Axiom determined that there were no air or water quality issues of concern and no remediation actions were required.  More specifically, no elevated mold counts were found in the building and the water test met the EPA's standard for safe drinking water (the water test also met the recently passed but not in effect State of Missouri “Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act”).

Axiom Water Quality Report

Axiom Air Quality Report

In the fall of 2022, the District also contacted the owner of the on-site cell tower to learn more details and gather information about the tower. It was shared that the tower does include 5G technology systems and that T-Mobile is the primary carrier within the tower. We understand that the tower is inspected annually to identify any maintenance issues and to ensure that the tower is structurally safe. The FCC closely regulates this (and all) antenna systems for compliance to federal standards.  In May of 2023, the District received a Site Compliance Report with respect to the Warren Hills tower that was prepared by SiteSafe, LLC. The report concluded that the tower and associated equipment were in full compliance with FCC Rules and Regulations.

SiteSafe Report

In January of 2024, the District was made aware of a staff concern about the air quality in their classroom. Consistent with LPS protocol, our team first conducted a visual inspection of the area and then engaged Children’s Mercy Hospital Environmental Health Program to conduct an air quality test of the classroom and adjacent areas. The report concluded that there were no issues of concern and no remediation steps were deemed necessary.

Children's Mercy EHP Report

In February, 2024 the District sent an introductory letter to all LPS families regarding the State of Missouri “Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act”, which requires all school districts in Missouri to regularly test every drinking water outlet within their schools for lead concentration levels.  As was mentioned in the initial letter, the current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit for lead in public drinking water is 15 parts per billion while this Act sets the limit for schools at 5 parts per billion – thus setting a higher standard for our schools. It is important to note that although the Act only requires the testing of outlets used for drinking and food service preparation, Liberty Public Schools opted to test nearly all water outlets within each building (including all classroom and utility sinks). With respect to Warren Hills, two (2) classroom sinks (out of 120 total faucets) fell short of the 5 parts per billion standard (although both were under the EPA standard of 15 parts per billion) and were remediated in the first round of repairs in July of 2024, thus bringing the school into full compliance with the Act.

Axiom Water Testing Report

LPS Get the Lead Out Landing Page

In the fall of 2024, the District was made aware of an additional staff cancer diagnosis. This information, de-personalized and anonymized, was shared with the CCPHC who conducted an updated inquiry utilizing the information previously shared in the fall of 2022. Once again, the CCPHC found that "there is no evidence to suggest that the breast cancer rate at Warren Hills is higher than expected, which means no further environmental investigation is warranted."

2024 CCPHC Report