The county Health Department will conduct its annual mandatory vision and hearing screenings for school-age children next week.

All children in pre-school, kindergarten, first and eighth grade and students new to Anne Arundel schools will be screened, according to health department officials. Other students can request to be included.

The screenings are performed to detect vision or hearing problems that could keep children from doing well in school, said Maureen Diaczok, program manager for school health services. If problems such as muscle balance in the eyes are caught while children are young enough, they can be...