According to the Detroit Free Press, third-grade reading proficiency in Flint, Michigan, dropped 75 percent–from 41.8 percent in 2013, to 10.7 percent last year. Flint school board vice president Harold Woodson, said the city was in "crisis mode," following news of the decline. 

The water crisis began in 2014, when Flint's water source was switched from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The change caused grave long-term effects on the Flint community due to the consumption of toxic and lead-poisoned water. Now, a new report suggests the bad water may have contributed to a near 75 percent drop in third-grade reading proficiency in Flint. 

Flint is not alone in its trouble with falling reading scores; achievement across the state of Michigan has been in decline in recent years.

In 2015, the state's Governor Rick Snyder announced third-grade reading proficiency had reached 70 percent. Last August, he Detroit News found third-grade reading proficiency continued to drop across the state, falling to 44.1 percent last year. However, the drastic percentage drop in Flint, where children were poisoned with lead, is a particular cause for concern. 

Brian Whiston, Michigan superintendent of education, said although a number of factors can be attributed to the decline in reading proficiency (e.g. a new, more difficult test was put in place), the drop in Flint is "not acceptable." 

"I certainly think that some of the [drop in proficiency] could be due to [lead-poisoning]," Whiston said. "But some of it could be stress. I'm certainly disappointed that it's at that level. These families have gone through a lot of stress. So I wouldn't be surprised to hear things dropped considerably."

Lead poisoning is not the only issue stressing families. This week, a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this week suggests low chlorine levels in the water, during the crisis, led to an outbreak of a severe and dangerous form of pneumonia called Legionnaires' disease, NPR reports.

Although the findings of the study have been contested – the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services claimed it had "numerous flaws" – its authors found cases of Legionnaires' disease increased by a rate of 80 percent, during the water crisis. The outbreak infected 87 people, and killed 12 in Flint in 2014 and 2015.

State Representative Sheldon Neeley (D) told Detroit Free Press he's concerned children of color, affected by the water crisis, will get left behind in reading proficiency.

"What I'm worried about is that we’ve mandated that kids have to be proficient in third grade," Neeley said. "If not, they have to be retained. I’m very concerned about that, especially with those kinds of results. I'm concerned about how young people are going to be emasculated and held back rather than getting them the help they need to be proficient."

He added "The psychological impact of this has gone unchallenged. This community is traumatized and the state has not dealt with the trauma and even though the state says the water is safe to drink, no one is going to drink the water."

Flint Reading ScoresFlint water crisisflint-michiganLead Contamination