CDC bolstering tests in schools
State is receiving $335 million in federal funding
New York will receive $335 million in new federal funds to increase coronavirus testing in public K-12 schools, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday, as the Biden administration floods schools with money in an effort to restart classroom learning across the country.
Only 57 out of 700 school districts in New York are conducting such testing for students or staff, according to a recent survey conducted by New York State United Teachers, the state’s teacher’s union.
Albany City Schools is one of the few. It’s been regularly testing staff and students who are back on campus since January using testing supplies obtained from the state at no cost, said spokesman Ron Lesko. But the test supply they have is not enough to last the rest of the school year, especially with more students returning to the classroom in April. He called the new funds for testing in schools “great news.”
NYSUT President Andrew Pallotta said money to support COVID -19 testing in schools has been on the union’s “wish list,” because it would make teachers feel safer in the classroom. The union has heard some school districts say they can’t afford to test using their own budgets.
“The state is getting $335 million (from the CDC); that sounds like a lot of money but it’s not,” Pallotta said. “It’s not when you want to do the testing that we want to do.”
The new federal testing money will flow to the state Department of Health by early April, but information was not available Wednesday on how it will then be used or distributed to individual school districts. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.
The testing money comes on top of the $9 billion that the U.S. Department of Education is sending to New York primary and secondary schools to fuel school reopening for in-person learning. It’s part of billions in federal relief money flowing to the state from the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that President Joe Biden signed into law last week.
“These funds from the American Rescue Plan and the extraordinary steps the Department is taking to get these resources to states quickly will allow schools to invest in mitigation strategies to get students back in the classroom and stay there, and address the many impacts this pandemic has had on students — especially those disproportionately impacted by the pandemic,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said.
The latest data the state Department of Education was able to provide on in-person learning in New York was from November 2020. Back then, only 20 percent of schools were
offering in-person learning while a majority where operating under a hybrid model.
In the Capital Region now, most school districts are teaching in the classroom much of the time.
NYSUT recently spent $1 million on a statewide advertisement saying teachers want to be back in the classroom, trying to rebut a narrative that teachers and their unions are an impediment to classroom learning during the pandemic. The advertisement advocates for testing for teachers and students, vaccines for teachers, sanitizing, social distancing and masks.
Biden has set a goal of having a majority of schools reopen for inperson learning five days a week by April 30, which would be his 100th day in office.
To help schools reopen, fight learning loss and shoulder other new expenses, the American Rescue Plan is pumping an unprecedented amount of money into public schools using Title I, a formula that supports schools educating lowincome students. Biden has also encouraged states to prioritize vaccinating teachers and school staff, which New York has done.
The CDC has issued new guidance for school reopening and is reevaluating whether three feet of physical distancing — not six — might be sufficient in schools when all students are masked.
The CDC is now promoting and funding increased coronavirus testing in schools as one strategy to help more classrooms stay open.
“Testing is one component to help schools safely reopen, and this additional funding from the CDC is much needed to get more schools to a place where they can fully participate in in-person learning,” said U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. “A one-size-fits-all approach does not work for reopening our schools — it is dependent on each state, district, and school’s ability to implement CDC guidelines that keep students, teachers, and administrators safe.”
In addition to ensuring diagnostic testing of symptomatic and exposed people, serial screening testing will help schools identify infected individuals without symptoms who may be contagious so that prompt action can be taken to prevent further transmission, the CDC said announcing the new funding awards Wednesday.
“We know that testing works. We know that it works to identify cases and slow the spread of COVID,” said Carole Johnson, White House coronavirus testing coordinator. “We look forward to working with schools to implement this exciting new program.”