How a new COVID testing program will help keep Turlock, Modesto students in classrooms
Turlock students exposed to COVID-19 can participate in a testing program on campus to continue attending school in person, the district announced Sunday.
Turlock Unified School District reported 60 positive cases and 585 close contacts Monday, reflecting the second week of in-person instruction.
Turlock’s testing program is a provided by the California Department of Public Health and is similar to testing programs offered at other Stanislaus County school districts. The state agency has encouraged districts to set up testing programs to reduce the amount of school days that students miss when they are exposed to COVID-19.
In a post Wednesday morning on the school district’s Facebook page, Turlock High Principal Gabe Ontiveros said Monday, Wednesday and Friday testing is averaging about 80 students each day.
Two negative tests allow asymptomatic students who are not fully vaccinated to continue attending school in person, according to California K-12 safety guidance. Fully vaccinated students do not have to test or stay home if they don’t show symptoms.
“Our school COVID-19 testing program helps keep our schools safe while also allowing students to remain in school during quarantine,” Turlock Unified spokeswoman Marie Russell said in an email. “It is aligned to the latest CDPH guidance for schools from the state.”
The rapid antigen test Turlock is using returns results in 15 minutes and requires students to swab their own noses. A trained staff member will supervise.
Parents reject self-swabbing by kids
Parents complained that children were too young to complete the swab test themselves. Several said in Facebook comments that they would not sign the form, choosing to keep their children home for seven to 10 days instead of participating in the district’s tests.
Russell answered that concern about young children performing their own nasal swabs by saying Turlock is following the state’s guidance on administering the BinaxNOW test the district selected.
The state’s instructions for rapid antigen tests say students should swab their own noses. A University of California, San Francisco study found that young children could swab their own noses easily, according to a document from the state health department.
Elementary school parents may accompany their children to the test, according to an FAQ section on the district’s website. Parents of high school students who want to join their children for testing should ask their school principal.
Parents must sign a form authorizing their child to be tested at school if they would like their children to participate. If students do not get tested, they must quarantine at home for 10 days.
Turlock will not accept proof of a negative test received elsewhere if students want to continue attending school throughout the quarantine period, Russell said. Parents may keep their students home and go to a community testing site on their sixth or seventh day of quarantine. A negative result at that point would allow the exposed student to return to school.
Students in quarantine will learn through short term independent study, Russell said. “Students in grades TK-6 are given standards aligned paper/pencil assignments focused on reading, writing, and mathematics,” she said. “Students in grades 7-12 are accessing assignments through Google Classroom.”
Similar testing in other districts
Like Turlock, other Stanislaus school districts picked a rapid antigen test that delivers results in 15 minutes to try to minimize missed school days.
Modesto’s largest school district is in the process of setting up a districtwide COVID-19 testing program for students at all campuses, Modesto City Schools spokeswoman Krista Noonan said in an email Monday. School officials have conducted COVID-19 tests at some schools as needed, with consent from parents or guardians, Noonan said.
“This is a high priority for our district,” Noonan said.
Modesto City Schools reported 27 student cases the first week of school.
School leaders are “actively working on securing supplemental staffing resources” and training additional staff to help run the testing program, Noonan said.
At least three districts set up their testing programs before the school year began.
Oakdale Joint Unified School District, which serves over 5,000 students, offered COVID-19 testing by the district’s Aug. 4 start date. The self-administered tests are observed by trained employees.
Families can ask health staff to conduct the test depending on the “age and comfort level of the parent and child,” Superintendent Dave Kline said in an email. School officials prefer that parents of younger children are present when testing, he said.
“This testing process has placed additional responsibilities on our nurses and health staff,” Kline said. “However, they have responded extremely well in order to make a quick determination regarding how a student should be quarantined. They are working diligently to help keep our students at school.”
If parents don’t want to use the district’s tests, they can seek a negative result from an authorized facility, or a doctor’s note stating that the student does not have COVID-19, Kline said.
More parents are keeping their children home sick this year, either because of exposure to COVID-19 outside of school or due to cold and allergy symptoms unrelated to the coronavirus, Kline said. About 120 students were absent from Oakdale’s Sierra View Elementary on Tuesday, Kline confirmed. Only two positive cases were reported at the school.
“I think parents are cautious,” Kline said. “I think parents are concerned about other kids and they’re concerned about the school in general.”
Patterson holds testing event
Patterson Unified School District ran a testing event the day before school started to help reduce potential infections and allow parents to observe the testing process, spokesman Johnny Padilla said in an email.
Of the district’s more than 6,000 students, 351 attended the testing day, Padilla said. The tests identified five positive cases, which school leaders were then able to prevent from attending the start of school.
Padilla said many parents “commented on how unexpectedly simple the test process was.”
Patterson Superintendent Phil Alfano wrote a letter a week before the first day of school informing parents that they could opt into COVID-19 rapid antigen testing for all students and staff identified as close contacts.
“Rather than missing school and having to quarantine for 10 days, your child can use a self-administered test to quickly, easily, and painlessly determine if they test positive for COVID-19,” Alfano wrote.
Patterson Unified health staff oversee the testing. If a student tests positive, the district offers a PCR test to confirm.
If parents don’t want their children to participate in the district’s testing, they can seek test results from a doctor’s office, urgent care or community test site, Padilla said. The district doesn’t accept home tests.
Testing on campus is the fastest way for students to return to classrooms. The district’s process takes about 30 minutes to complete, compared to leaving school to find a different testing site and waiting for those results.
Ceres Unified School District’s testing program is in place, too. Students watch a brief video tutorial and administer the test themselves under supervision of a school health professional, spokeswoman Beth Jimenez said. Parents can choose to administer their child’s test at school under a health professional’s watch.
The district accepts negative PCR tests from non-school-administered sites as well, Jimenez said.
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
