SOUTH BEND — Free blood-lead tests will be available to hundreds of kindergartners and first graders at the city’s 18 primary schools starting next school year.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg trumpeted the news in his recent State of the City address, saying that “we have to ensure that every child is tested for lead ... Only with this information can our community fully address the scope of the issue.”
The city has agreed to team up with the South Bend Community School Corp., and St. Joseph County Health Department to launch the program.
In South Bend, lead-based paint in old homes has been a problem for decades. But local officials began organizing efforts to combat the problem, such as increasing testing, after the state released testing data in late 2016 that showed an unusually high percentage of children had elevated blood lead levels on the city’s near northwest side.
Details about the cost of the student program and how testing will be done still need to be determined, said Robin Vida, the health department’s education director.
She said finger-prick tests would be conducted by nurses from schools and the health department under the plan. Each school would schedule a day for the tests, which would require parents’ permission. Tests will be free for all families, but the process for signing up hasn’t been determined.
“We plan to start in September and be done by the end of the school year,” Vida said.