Since 1978 · Attorney Advertising
Lead in a school or a day care
The Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø has been helping victims of lead poisoning and serious personal injuries for more than 40 years, and we are proud of that legacy. A child can be exposed at home and still be exposed in the room where they spend the day. If the room is a New York City school, or a day care with chipping paint, please call for a free consultation. There is no fee to speak to us or for us to evaluate your potential case.
What to do now
Do not scrape paint in a classroom. Tell the school or the center in writing, call 311, and keep the lab slip. Call the firm the same day if the building is a city school or a public program. Time rules for a claim against the City are their own subject — see Time limits.
A pending case against the Department of Education
On August 5, 2026, the Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø announced that it filed a lawsuit in Supreme Court, Bronx County, against the New York City Department of Education. The announcement describes a Bronx mother and her five-year-old son; it does not name the family or state a blood lead number.
The announcement describes alleged placement in a District 75 classroom at P.S. 46 in the Bronx. Those facts are alleged. It describes a blood test on January 28, 2026, chelation, and six days in hospital, and it describes three causes of action in negligence. It identifies Reuven S. Frankel as counsel to the family.
Compensatory damages were left to a jury in the firm’s announcement. The filing is not a settlement, no recovery amount is stated, and the announcement does not say the Department of Education has admitted the claims.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. A filed case can be dismissed, settled, or tried. The amount, if any, is not known.
Day care under City law
New York City Administrative Code § 17-911: there shall be no peeling lead-based paint in any portion of a day care facility. Section 17-910: all paint or surface coating material on the interior of any day care center is presumed to be lead-based paint. That presumption can be rebutted with proof the surface was tested and found not to contain illegal levels, plus a sworn statement of the owner or operator, and proof that a properly certified inspector or risk assessor did the testing. Operators must conduct annual surveys of surface paint, and more often if required.
If you see chips on a door, baseboard, or wall, tell the facility and call 311. A child poisoned at a day care may have a claim based on duties under common law and New York City and New York State law. That is not a finding about a particular center.
Public school kindergarten is different
A day care facility, as that statute uses the term, regularly gives care to seven or more children under 6, not all of common parentage, more than five hours a week for more than a month a year. The term does not include kindergarten or higher in a facility owned by the Department of Education.
NYC Health Code § 45.12 applies to a kindergarten conducted as part of an elementary school by the Department of Education. There shall be no peeling lead-based paint or peeling paint of unknown lead content on any surface in a kindergarten. Peeling lead-based paint shall be immediately abated or remediated upon discovery. Children shall not be present in a room undergoing that work until final clean-up and clearance dust testing are complete. Each year the Department of Education shall survey the condition of surfaces in kindergarten classrooms used by children under six.
Michael Stewart Frankel and Reuven S. Frankel welcome your call.
There is no fee to speak to us or for us to evaluate your potential case.
Lead poisoning information
A telephone call or online inquiry does not create an attorney-client relationship. The firm represents a client only if it agrees to do so. Please do not send medical records until representation has been agreed. Attorney Advertising.