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Claremont Will Test Kindergarten, Pre-K Students for Lead

Peter Crowley via Flickr CC

Lead tests will be required for all students entering kindergarten and pre-k in Claremont schools this fall.

The district is believed to be the first in New Hampshire to require the screenings for students.

Claremont is one of several communities where health officials recommend that all children be screened, largely because of its older housing stock. Lead paint can be poisonous to children even in tiny amounts.

But a recommendation is different than a requirement, and many kids are still going untested. Officials hope the district's new mandatory testing policy will change that.

Brian Rapp, chair of the district's school board, said a lot of parents are unaware of the problem, and at least one incoming student has already screened positive. "The only way to really get some people to acknowledge that they have an issue with either their house, or maybe a place that they're renting, is that lead test," he said. 

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