RAT test and tuxedo: Negative result required to make it through the door at this school ball

Our testing has been by consent, and it would be wrong to characterise this issue as a difficult one for the school.

Alex Reed

Students going to a private Auckland school’s ball this evening will need an extra accessory along with their ball gowns and bling — a negative Rapid Antigen Test.

Pinehurst School is requiring the Covid-19 test results from all students and guests ahead of the event at the Hilton hotel in Auckland tonight.

All students attending the ball had to get tested yesterday at school when they picked up their tickets, while guests will be tested at the venue tonight.

But that’s upset at least one parent, who emailed the Pinehurst board asking why ballgoers needed RATs when they weren’t required at gatherings under the orange traffic light setting.

“The All Blacks are playing at Eden Park on Saturday night with a crowd of 40,000 people, no RAT test is required. The government has removed the need for pre-departure RAT tests. Why does Pinehurst require a RAT test for this event? Do all students have to have a RAT test to attend school everyday?” he wrote.

The parent also questioned whether the school had legal advice on testing minors without parental consent, and what would happen if students were still testing positive after finishing their isolation period for Covid.

He believed there was “growing unrest” about the policy.

But Pinehurst is standing by the testing — saying while it may be a conservative policy it’s the best way to keep students and staff safe from Covid-19.

Pinehurst principal Alex Reed confirmed to the Weekend Herald one parent had sent a “polite email” questioning the response. But he said the “vast majority” of parents were in favour and didn’t find the policy controversial.

“Our testing has been by consent, and it would be wrong to characterise this issue as a difficult one for the school,” Reed said.

He said Pinehurst also tested ahead of other high-risk events like camps; the ball was high risk as masks wouldn’t generally be worn.

That differed from the classroom where about 80 per cent of students and staff regularly wore masks.

Asked about ballgoers who had finished isolating but were still testing positive for Covid, Reed said the school routinely tested such children when they returned to school.

All students had returned negative tests on Friday, he said.

“We are testing guests on the door because it’s the only practical way of doing this.

“Yes, anyone who tests positive and therefore can’t attend will have a full refund, and we will arrange for safe transport home.”

The school’s decision comes as cases of Covid are creeping up, along with hospital numbers. Health authorities are warning of a second wave of Covid over the winter adding to unprecedented pressure on the hospital system from other winter illnesses.

The Ministry of Education’s Hautu¯ (leader) of operations Sean Teddy confirmed that private schools such as Pinehurst were entitled to make decisions about RAT requirements to attend their school balls as they were independently governed.

But state and state-integrated schools couldn’t require evidence of a negative RAT to access curriculumrelated activities, Teddy said.

However under the Education and Training Act 2020 principals could require a student not to attend “if they believe, on reasonable grounds, that the student may have a communicable disease”.

But state and state-integrated schools hoping to RAT test students at school balls may be out of luck.

The Ministry likened RATs to using breathalysers at a school ball to see if students were drunk.

It’s illegal for a state school to breathalyser students as it’s considered a search — this includes at a ball.

However if the ball is held at an outside venue, the venue owner can set its own rules including requiring breath-testing.