In all, 17,000 students are eligible for free, in-district testing. Watch video
NEWARK -- About 130 children have been tested for lead so far at the two school sites made available to parents interested in screening their children, according to a school administrator.
"We're waiting for more information about what will happen (with testing sites) next week, through spring recess and probably the week after," said Nana Ofosu-Amaah, Newark Public Schools' executive director of the Office of Early Childhood. After the next two weeks, parents can go to the city health department to get their children screened, she said.
Though other parents can bring in students from other schools to get tested, the district is ready to accommodate toddlers who are attending these pre-K centers first, Ofosu-Amaah said.
Thirty schools in the state's largest district were found to have unsafe levels of lead following district testing, officials announced earlier this month.
Now, as many as 17,000 students are drinking bottled water at school, and they are eligible for free voluntary testing, which began Thursday at one 210-student pre-K school and is continuing with a second, 131-student pre-K Friday, officials said.
The issue has led to a lot of uncertainty and alarm among parents and educators.
Elevated lead levels in Newark schools' water dates back to at least 2012, school officials confirmed Wednesday.
'Uncertainty' about past testing prompts new DEP lead plan in Newark
Even low lead exposure in children can cause irreversible problems with paying attention and have detrimental impact on academic achievement, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Ofosu-Amaah was interviewed around noon outside Early Childhood School -- West, the second designated testing site, a federal Head Start program on Speedway Ave., where she said 32 parents had come to sign up for testing and to get one-on-one information on the lead situation, and 31 children had been screened so far on Friday. This school is open as a testing site until about 4 p.m., with the help of the city health department, she said.
By 3:30 p.m. Friday, 45 children had been tested at the school, according to Newark Public Schools spokeswoman Dreena Whitfield.
At the first testing site, Early Childhood School Central at Samuel L. Berliner School, 95 families signed in and 85 children ultimately got screened, she said.
Most parents are coming in to register their children at 8 a.m. before school, or after school, but parents are allowed to come in at any time, she said. The registered students at the Speedway Ave. school are put on a list, and carry out a normal day of school until it is their turn to get their blood drawn, she said.
"Today I didn't hear a lot of crying kids," she said. "We got them lollipops to take home for the weekend."
In this particular school, she said, only one of 10 locations within the school where water was tested was found with elevated lead levels, and it was in the staff lounge.
Ofosu-Amaah said she couldn't speak to whether the district knew there was lead in the water for 10 years, noting that she had just worked for the district one year.
However, parents at the second testing site expressed alarm about the possibility the district may have known so long ago.
"You should have let the parents (know) about all that stuff," said Sakina Banks, who signed her 4-year-old son up for testing Friday morning. "(His behavior) changed. I know he's been exposed to lead."
Like a few other parents previously interviewed, Banks said she might sue if the results show high blood lead levels.
"They should have told all the parents about this in advance... It's crazy, it really is," said Quanissa Mickens, who is testing her 4-year-old daughter before her oldest child, who also was at one of the 30 schools. "I'm really nervous, because I don't know what the results are going to come out with."
"I'd rather be safe than sorry," she added. "(Once I get the results) I'll do whatever I have to do."
Laura Herzog may be reached at lherzog@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LauraHerzogL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.