Any kindergartner enrolling in South Bend Schools next year will need to have a blood lead test done.
Kids going to public schools already have to have certain vaccines and the district recommends that kids have physicals, and eye and dental exams. The lead test is a new addition made possible by a state provision.
Sue Cullen is the School Nurse Manager for South Bend. She said the test before kindergarten should catch kids that haven’t been tested before.
“They’re supposed to have them done at age one and again at two but if they miss that it’s kind of a fail safe at the kindergarten level to make sure that if it hasn’t been done previously, it gets done now.”
Lead poisoning can cause learning and developmental delays or behavior problems. The test allows the schools to identify kids that might need extra learning supports.
The cost of the test is covered by Medicaid for eligible families. It can be done by a child’s regular doctor, or at the county health department.
Children may also have been tested at one of the testing events South Bend schools have done over the last two years.