South Bend schools have a test planned for kindergarten and first-grade students beginning next year, and it isn’t one they’ll have to study for.
It’s a test that’s interested in their health, as the South Bend schools will begin testing for lead. WSBT reports that the schools are still working out the details, but they plan to focus the initial effort on the first two grades, as they represent the most critical years for such testing.
The city is committed to making the new lead test a priority, and the mayor said in his recent State of the City Address it will be available to all South Bend public school students.
It’s hoped that the effort will help create a map of the city’s primary lead contamination areas.
