Oaklandside's Ashley McBride, Callie Rhoades receive First Amendment award

"This year's winners truly embody the best of journalism and free expression. Their courage and tenacity uncovered critical stories that demanded to be told. Last year saw relentless attacks on journalists and the media from our government and others, but these winners show good reason for optimism about the future of free expression and a free press."

"The pair filed dozens of Public Records Act requests over many months to learn what led to the crisis, how the district bungled its response, and whether the district's 34,000 students were finally safe. They found that students and teachers were drinking from contaminated water sources for months after contamination was discovered and that remediation was incomplete years after lead was first detected back in 2017."

"Following their series, the district has committed to several transparency reforms, including notifying school communities of lab test reports within 72 hours; creating a public dashboard online that summarizes test results; and establishing an automatic system that notifies school leaders about new test results. The school board allocated $20.5 million for lead abatement efforts."

Ashley McBride and Callie Rhoades of The Oaklandside received the First Amendment Coalition's Free Speech and Open Government Award for their investigative journalism on lead contamination in Oakland Unified School District schools. Through dozens of Public Records Act requests over many months, they uncovered how students and teachers drank from contaminated water sources for months after contamination was discovered in 2017, and that remediation efforts remained incomplete. Their reporting prompted significant district reforms, including 72-hour notification requirements for lab test reports, a public online dashboard summarizing results, automatic notification systems for school leaders, and a $20.5 million allocation for lead abatement efforts.

Read at The Oaklandside