Preschool asking for medical test results (lead) (New York, York: low income, daycare)

[NYCresident2014]

I got this email from my ~4 year old daughter's preschool in northern Westchester:

"Dear [_ _ _],

New York State mandates that we collect data on lead test screening for children in our program. The State recommends that all children be tested for lead exposure every 12 months. If your child has had a lead test, the State requests you submit the results of that test to the school. If your child has not had a lead exposure test in the last 12 months the State recommends you seek advice from your medical professional about being tested for lead exposure.


Please find the attached information regarding lead exposure risks.

Regards


[school]"


They also attached a little pamphlet. Nothing in the pamphlet nor on the ny.gov website (https://ag.ny.gov/environmental/lead...l-age-children) says anything about having to give this information to my kids' school.


This seems creepy to me. The way I read the rule, kids are only required to be tested for lead once at 12 mos and again at 24 mos, and in both cases the results are automatically reported to the state. I see nothing about having to give it to a private preschool so that they can forward it on to the state.


My biggest issue is that their first sentence says "...mandates that we collect..." but then the fourth sentence says "... the State requests that you submit..." and the fifth says "... the State recommends..."


So it's a mandate, but if you've done it, it's only requested, and if you haven't done it, it's only recommended.


Anyone see things like this at their preschool? Anyone else find this creepy?

[bg7]

The school is mandated to collect it. You are not the school. You are not mandated to make your kid undergo the test - hence the state recommendations and requests.


Its very odd that you find it "creepy". That choice of word suggests sinister motives. Its the state - not an individual asking about your daughter. And lead testing was introduced for very good health reasons - and which disproportionately affect low income children. I think it says something about your own psychology to call it creepy.


You might decides its no-one's business if your daughter has hi or low lead levels. That's ok.

[VA Yankee]

The school is simply complying with state requirements and providing information for those who may not be aware of this potential danger. Don't assume everyone knows and there are more ways to be exposed then eating chipping paint. As the above poster clarified you are only being "requested" to submit the results if a test had been run.

Save your strength for the upcoming battle over mandatory inoculations before public school enrollment I'm sure you'll have concerns over that.

[NYCresident2014]

This is probably due to the fact that I've spent the last couple years living across state lines into NJ where this is not a requirement, but it just seems so strange that a private preschool is required to collect the blood test results of the preschoolers they are watching a few hours per week.

I understand the requirement for immunization records because unimmunized children are a threat to others in the school, but the lead test stuff is weird to me. I can see why the state would require doctors to check for it and report it, and I can also understand why the state would want to test the water at the preschool for lead. However I see no link between a private glorified daycare and the content of my kid's blood (again, other than with respect to communicable diseases).

I guess it's just the accepted practice here in NY though based on the two responses thus far. I find a lot of what NY does to be very strange and overbearing after moving to a different state for a while. Surprising that NJ is the "small government" state compared to NY (if you've spent any time in or around NJ you'd understand why that is a funny statement).