WINFIELD -- The new school year in Putnam County means not only hitting the books for some students, but also being screened for important health and development issues.

Selected students will be screened in the areas of hearing, vision, speech and language.

Speech-language pathologists will screen kindergarten students not previously screened. They will also screen students who are new to the state, who have no previous documentation of screening, or were previously identified as high-risk in grades one through five.

A RESA II audiologist and the school health nurses will conduct hearing and vision screenings on students new to the state and kindergartners who were not previously screened. Hearing will be screened in first grade, vision will be screened in select grades and students previously identified as high-risk will receive both hearing and vision screenings.

Eighth-grade students will be screened by nurses for scoliosis throughout the school year.

The testing will be done throughout the school day, with no special scheduling necessary.

Parents who do not want their children to be screened should call the principal of each child's school. Parents with questions may call Pat Homberg, director of Exceptional Education, at 586-0500, Ext. 111.