Dear Families,

A robust COVID-19 testing regimen is essential to our ability to maintain the health and wellness of both students and staff and keep the schools open. I would like to take a moment to update you on what that will look like when testing begins again on September 8th. Previously known as “pooled testing,” participating students and staff members will now take part in Routine COVID Safety Checks.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has fully funded the testing program and partnered SPS with CIC Health, who was our testing company last year. CIC Health will play a much larger role in this new process. There will be a Program Coordinator (PC) from CIC who will manage all of the testing supplies and the testing teams who will be coming into the buildings. The PC will order the testing supplies and will enter all of the information into a central tracking system. The PC will also work to coordinate all the testing in the buildings and make sure that everything runs smoothly. School nurses will be responsible for checking on the results of the Routine Safety Checks, coordinating with the CIC team when they arrive in the building, and supporting them as needed.

The testing will take place over two days in the district.  The team will come to two elementary schools on Wednesday and the other two on Thursday.  The testing at Curtis will be on Thursday scheduled around lunch in order to minimize class disruption. If there is a positive case, the team will come back to help with the follow up testing.  This can include the Binax Now and follow up PCR testing.

 To enroll your child in our Routine COVID Safety Checks, please click here and complete our COVID-19 Readiness Form and permission slip. Remember, the more students and staff who participate, the more effective our prevention efforts will be. I strongly encourage everyone to sign up and be tested. 

Sincerely,

Brad Crozier

Superintendent