The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Cancer warning prompts backpack give back
A California cancer warning on school supplies has scrubbed a donation for Lorain City Schools students.
The district will return a donation of backpacks loaded with school supplies offered through Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will’s Office.
On Aug. 20, Lorain Schools announced the plan, a day before classes start for Lorain’s 2019-2020 school year.
The materials, such as crayons, colored pencils, boxed markers, folders and the backpacks, carry the warning that the materials potentially may be cancerous or cause reproductive harm. The warnings are mandated by California’s Proposition 65.
“As a district, we are deeply grateful to Prosecutor Will and his office’s generosity shown with the providing of these supplies, the organizing of the packing of backpacks and the distribution to each of our elementary buildings,” said an announcement from the school district. “It is through this gesture our district has been assured that our (students) will not go without, from their first day of school, in regards to supplies.
“But in the same token, the Lorain City School district feels it must outweigh the generosity and necessity by putting the safety and concerns of our scholars and staff as its first priority. It is through the belief of safety is paramount over any other need, that the district has decided not to distribute the items with the label — including crayons, colored pencils, boxed markers, color folders and the backpack itself.”
Items without the warning label will be distributed by building principals and the district will continue working on providing backpacks for the students.
Will said that, as he had just found out from local media that the supplies were being rejected, there is no plan on what to do with them.
“I certainly don’t want to waste these items,” he said. “I certainly understand the concerns that somebody could raise, but I also think you have to look at it logically and look at the other certifications that are on the packaging.”
The school district announcement included a copy of a letter from Will explaining California’s legal requirement.
The Proposition 65 warning label does not mean a product is unsafe or prohibited, he said.
The products were approved for human use through the Art and Creative Materials Institute and Consumer Product Safety Commission, Will said.
Items without the warning label will be distributed by building principals...