• STUDENT COVID-19 TESTING

     

  • Testing is one of our most important tools for mitigating the spread of COVID-19

    • Free, voluntary, and confidential COVID-19 pool testing will be available in schools for students and school staff
    • We strongly encourage all students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, to participate in the pool testing program. The more people who test regularly, the better data we have
    • Parents/guardians/caregivers must complete a consent form for their students to be eligible for pool testing. Each family will receive a link to this form for each student
    • There are three main strategies for COVID-19 testing in our schools, operated by our partners at CIC Health:
      • Routine COVID Pool testing - with the consent of families and staff members, schools will provide COVID-19 testing weekly for a sample of the population (the ‘pool’).  If there is a positive “pool” case, each individual sample from  the positive pool will be tested with a follow-up test.
      • Testing for students experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 - any student who complains of any of the symptoms of COVID-19 will have access to a rapid test. Decisions on next steps are based on the results of the test
      • Test and Stay - introduced by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, test and stay allows individuals who are identified as a close contact of a confirmed positive case to stay in school with daily testing for 5 days, if they do not have any symptoms. BPS’s testing clinical provider, CIC Health, will deploy a team who will manage the daily tests for those who qualify.