At a recent meeting, parents of PS 51 students expressed their concerns with the way the Department of Education (DOE) administration has handled decades of toxic exposure at the school’s former building in Bedford Park.

Members of PS 51 Parents United, a group consisting of parents of current and former PS 51students and members of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC), say the DOE and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott are not making an effort to reach out to parents of former students about the contamination. They are frustrated that he hasn’t met with them despite their health concerns.

High levels of trichloroethylene (TCE), a cancer causing toxin, were detected in the school’s former building.

“If [Walcott is] responsible why won’t [he] step up to the plate and meet with us,” said Adaline Walker-Santiago, a PS 51 Parents United member and first vice chair of Community Board 7.

A handful of parents and children from PS 51 Parents United attended the meeting to “remind [the chancellor] of the promises he made at the beginning of the school year” and introduce Walcott to some of the children who were impacted by the toxic exposure.

During a public forum last October, Walcott said he would meet with the administration and parents of students who attend the school to address their concerns. Walcott, however, only met with the current administration and parents association of the school, leaving alumni parents out in the cold.

“I have entrusted the safety and education of my children in the hands of the DOE all those years,” Walker-Santiago said at the meeting. “For some reason [DOE officials] don’t feel that [they] need to engage me about this.”

When confronted at the meeting, Walcott said he is taking this matter very seriously, but didn’t agree to meet with PS 51 Parents United or address their concerns.

Helene Hartman-Kutnowsky, a member of PS 51 Parents United and chair of Community Board 7’s sanitation and environment committee, said Walcott has ignored PS 51 Parents United’s demands for the establishment of a medical registry and a system to track students’ health issues. They still have concerns that many parents have not been notified about the contamination.

“Parents and students need to be informed of this potential health risk,” Hartman-Kutnowsky said at the meeting. “If they are not informed, how can we be proactive about our health?”

Hartman-Kutnowsky and Walker-Santiago’s daughters are former PS 51 students. They developed asthma after they left the school and think it has something to do with the toxins detected at the former school building last February. Parents were not notified until July, angering many.

“We need a system for communication with parents that will ensure parents can receive and understand this crucial information in a timely manner,” said Marisol Carrero, a parent of a student who currently attend the school.

Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm said the DOE made an effort to notify everyone they could contact and also notified the city and state health departments.

DOE Spokeswoman Marge Feinberg said the DOE notified parents of PS 51 students whose records they have on file, including former students.

Hartman-Kutnowsky said she believes that only 50 to 75 percent of parents were notified of the toxins based on the data received by PS 51 Parents United and the NWBCCC when they canvassed current and former parents.

PS 51 Parents United also want there to be a policy change that ensures equitable environmental review of both DOE-owned and leased facilities because DOE-leased buildings are able to bypass toxic assessment. They are also calling for an annual sampling at the school’s new location on Crotona Avenue.

Hartman-Kutnowsky said that PS 51 Parents United has been working with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Department of Health about remediation plans for the school building and health consultation. She said they are willing to inform former students of the contamination if DOE will release the contact information of all former parents to them.

Grimm said the DOE is working with Department of Health to release information to former students.

PS 51 Parents United and NWBCCC demands have the support of the Community District Education Council 10 and Council Member Oliver Koppell.