HUNTINGTON BEACH : 2 Districts to Require Kindergarten TB Tests

Ocean View and Huntington Beach City school districts have adopted policies to require tuberculosis testing for kindergartners.

Officials for both elementary school districts said the stiffer policy is necessary to prevent the spread of the communicable disease in schools. So far, there have been no cases of TB in either district, officials said.

The county requires tuberculosis skin testing for all students entering Orange County schools in second through 12th grades. The state requires testing for first-graders.

The school board of the Huntington Beach City School District gave preliminary approval of its policy to require a skin test for tuberculosis for kindergartners as well as all new students at other grade levels, starting with the 1995-96 school year. Final approval is expected at the March 7 meeting.

The Ocean View School District Board of Trustees gave final approval of its policy, in which the district’s nurses recommended TB testing for children entering kindergarten.

“It’s early intervention and prevention,” said Trustee Carol Kanode, who is also a nurse with Huntington Beach Union High School District. “We’re not doing it to alarm anyone, we’re doing it to bring our policy into standards.”

Ocean View trustees also eliminated the district’s three-month grace period that enabled children to get the TB skin test after enrollment.

Ocean View will offer free immunizations and TB testing March 8 at Oak View School. Free TB testing for children is also available through the county’s Health Care Agency. Huntington Beach City School District also offers free TB testing.