Wendy Ruderman

“Toxic City: Sick Schools,” a three-part Inquirer investigative series, won the $5,000 Gannett Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism, which will be presented to The Inquirer at IRE’s June conference in Houston.

Gov. Tom Wolf traveled to Taggart Elementary School in South Philadelphia to tout his proposed four-year, $4.5 billion Restore Pennsylvania initiative to fix crumbling schools, eliminate blight, repair storm damage, and expand high-speed internet across the state.

These are some questions and answers about what city, state, and school officials have accomplished in the wake of the Inquirer’s “Toxic City” investigation, and some shortfalls that remain.

After the successful cleanup of more than half a dozen schools, and with 38 more planned, the School District of Philadelphia is getting accolades for its aggressive, revamped efforts to protect students from lead paint.

A year after a first grader was severely poisoned from peeling lead paint in his classroom, City Council on Thursday unanimously passed historic legislation aimed at ensuring such an injury never happens again.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday said he was directing state funds to begin a $15.7 million emergency cleanup at some of Philadelphia’s most rundown schools.

A month after an investigation found dangerous levels of asbestos fibers in some of Philadelphia’s most rundown elementary schools, the school district has begun cleaning up seven of them.

A Philadelphia classroom is filled with dangerous levels of lead and asbestos while the unresponsive school district is missing in action.

That latest result is more than 100 times higher than the level that health experts say is cause for alarm.