On the heels of peeling lead paint discovered in 1,800 New York City classrooms, the Department of Education is directing parents to call 311 “to secure free testing” or find a doctor for their kids.

But calls placed by The Post to the city helpline found operators clueless about where parents can get their children’s blood tested.

“They don’t necessarily provide us the locations,” one 311 operator said before transferring the call to the Department of Health.

That agency rep was equally baffled.

“Free blood lead testing?” he asked.

During another call, a DOH representative consulted with a supervisor and then recommended visiting a public hospital if the caller had no insurance. When asked to provide a phone number for a particular hospital, she said she did not have one.

“If you Google it, you can get it very easily,” she said.

City Councilman Robert Holden, a Queens Democrat, said his staff also got the runaround when calling 311.

“They promise you the world,” Holden said. “In reality, it’s bogus.”

Holden is calling upon the city to offer free blood tests for lead to all current and former students and staff at PS 9, a special-needs school in Maspeth.

Cracked, peeling and deteriorating lead paint was found last month in 32 classrooms at the 116-year-old building, where Holden has been sounding the alarm for a year. He said his cries were ignored until The Post in July began writing a series of reports about conditions there.

“This building, circa 1906, has served thousands of our most vulnerable children and their dedicated educators over the years, and there is a high risk that they have been exposed to lead. We must be proactive in our effort to assure all parties that they are safe,” Holden wrote to Dr. Oxiris Barbot, the city health commissioner, in a letter copied to the mayor.

Holden said Friday he has not received a response.

After The Post began reporting on the school, the DOE said it would pour another $16 million on improvements in addition to the $14 million it has already spent. Much of the work is on the building’s exterior, which has been shrouded in black tarp and scaffolding for two years.

The DOE said it painted over any crumbling lead paint at PS 9 and the other schools before classes started last week.

The DOH could not explain why callers got the runaround, but said its Healthy Homes program would link people with services.

“Everyone’s circumstances are different and some of those services may be offered at a local clinic or public hospital,” a spokesman said, adding that the agency “will retrain Healthy Homes operators to ensure the best possible service.”