Some Stanislaus school districts awaiting COVID kits. Where can students get tested?
Thousands of Stanislaus County students returned to school this week without the benefit of free rapid antigen tests Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged.
Though some districts secured test kits in early December, other districts across the county and state are still waiting on shipments.
Stanislaus school leaders and state officials have highly encouraged — but not required — students and staff to get tested for COVID-19 toward the end of their winter break as the highly contagious omicron variant drives a surge in cases locally and nationally.
The ability to detect infections before students and staff come back is one way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and help keep students in school.
Newsom announced Dec. 22 that one or two at-home COVID-19 tests would be made available to every K-12 public school student in California as they returned to school after winter break.
The governor’s office said this would expand on about 2 million tests distributed by the California Department of Public Health to schools in early December.
But by Monday, only half of the 6 million tests Newsom pledged were delivered, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Newsom’s office tweeted Tuesday morning that more at-home test kits arrived Monday night and would “immediately be sent to counties for distribution through county offices of education.”
“More tests are en route for California’s students!” the Tweet said.
Stanislaus County Office of Education anticipates tests
The Stanislaus County Office of Education has yet to receive tests to distribute to schools, Communications Director Cynthia Fenech said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. Officials heard inclement weather may have delayed the delivery, Fenech said.
“Our office has been in regular contact with the California Department of Public Health since learning we would be the point of contact for distribution,” the statement said. “According to representatives from CDPH, kits should arrive sometime this week, upon which time we will distribute them to districts for student use.”
Districts including Turlock Unified and Oakdale Joint Unified are waiting on those tests.
Turlock Unified resumed instruction on Monday. Oakdale Joint Unified brought students back Tuesday.
Spokeswoman Marie Russell said Turlock Unified requested tests in December, but the state had run out. Oakdale Superintendent Dave Kline said he submitted a request to county public health on Christmas Eve.
The delay left many families scrambling to secure tests for their children elsewhere.
“We encourage families to make use of free community COVID-19 testing resources and look forward to distributing our allocation of testing kits from the State once they arrive,” Russell said by email.
Tests available in some districts
At least a handful of local districts independently received tests before winter break — and before Newsom’s announcement. They include Modesto City Schools, Sylvan Unified School District, Patterson Joint Unified School District and Ceres Unified School District.
Modesto City Schools applied for tests in November and received enough for all students and interested staff in mid-December, spokeswoman Krista Noonan said by email.
Families can pick up tests at times listed on each school’s website, Noonan said. Each packet includes two test kits. The goal is for people to take one test on Thursday and another on Sunday, Noonan said. Instruction resumes on Monday.
Sylvan Unified has offered free weekly COVID-19 testing for students and community members at the district office, said Velma Silva, executive assistant to the Superintendent.
The district contracted with a company called Virtual Hearing Solutions to manage the program. They provided tests throughout winter break and will have tests available at the district office 1-3 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, Silva said by email. School begins Monday.
Patterson Joint Unified received tests on Dec. 8 and handed them out on Dec. 17, prior to winter break, spokesman Johnny Padilla said by email. District officials indicated interest in receiving rapid antigen tests in an email to the California Department of Public Health on Dec. 1, he said.
School officials asked parents to use one test three days before returning to school, and the second the day before school, according to a message to parents from Superintendent Phil Alfano.
“As we have done throughout the pandemic, our district will continue to monitor local health conditions and adjust protocols as warranted and we are happy to be able to offer these free test kits as one more tool to help keep our community safe and healthy,” Alfano wrote.
Ceres Unified spokeswoman Beth Parker Jimenez said students were sent home with rapid test kits provided by the state public health department before winter break.
Jimenez said an email in early December advertised the availability of home test kits, but was quickly followed by another email saying no more tests were available. The Ceres district nurse called for more information and was told there were still a few kits in stock. The district requested the kits Dec. 7 and received enough for every student Dec. 10, Jimenez said.
Families can also use drive-through testing at Ceres schools through Heal 360.
“I feel that the school is doing what they can to keep kids safe,” said Karina Franco, a parent to two Ceres Unified elementary school students.
Franco said her kindergartner and third grader completed their tests on Monday, prior to their first day back on Tuesday.
Though it feels “nerve wracking” to send her children to school as COVID-19 cases rise, Franco said the at-home tests provide some comfort. Just a year ago, she recalled, her children attended school in person for hybrid instruction before vaccines and at-home testing had become widely available.
“There’s more tools in the toolbox, to be somewhat safer,” Franco said.
Test sites busier
Stanislaus County test locations have reported an uptick in demand, but it’s unclear whether that’s driven by school staff and students or a general need for tests as cases counts increase.
The county’s 7-day average case rate rose to 23.4 per 100,000 people, according to state data from Monday.
Spokeswoman Rosalee Rush said Stanislaus State has seen an uptick in traffic at its Turlock campus testing site.
Stanislaus County libraries have received limited supplies that have gone fast at every location, spokeswoman Susan Lilly said.
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 7:22 AM.
