NYC, LA putting students through extensive testing
The two largest school districts in the U.S. are rolling out ambitious and costly plans to test students and staff for the coronavirus, bidding to help keep school buildings open amid a rise in infections among the nation’s school-age children.
New York City set in motion its program to begin monthly testing of 10% to 20% of students and staff in every building on Thursday, as the final wave of the district’s more than 1 million students returned to brick-and-mortar classrooms for the first time in six months,
“This is going to allow us to keep a constant eye on what is happening in each school, and make sure we can keep everyone safe,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said, imploring parents to fill out consent forms so their children can participate. “We are going to start testing next week.”
With an estimated 100,000 to 120,000 tests expected each month, each costing between $78 and $90, New York City’s school-based testing plan goes well beyond safety protocols seen in most other districts.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Unified School District, has launched a similarly comprehensive, $150 million, testing program to help determine when it will be safe to resume in-person instruction. The district began the school year remotely in August for all 600,000 students. The New York and Los Angeles systems are respectively the nation’s largest and 2nd-largest school districts.
Leaders in both cities say regular testing is needed in districts of their size and in ar
eas of the country that previously witnessed unnerving surges of the virus.
The coronavirus struck hard at the elderly early in the pandemic and is now increasingly infecting American children and teens in a trend authorities say appears to be fueled by school reopenings and other activities. Children of all ages now make up 10% of all U.S cases, up from 2% in April, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported Tuesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that the incidence of COVID-19 in school-age children began rising in early September as many returned to classrooms. Its recommendations emphasize distancing, cleaning and face coverings for most reopening plans — though no requirement for universal testing of students and staff.
New York City elementary school students began returning to school buildings Tuesday after starting the year remote. Middle and high school students started going back Thursday.
After greeting students at a middle school Thursday, De Blasio sought to reassure parents worried about the testing, which was past of an agreement with the teachers union to avert a strike. At least 79 Department of Education employees have died from the virus.
“Is it going to be that long instrument that goes up your nose? No!” he said. “It’s simple. It’s not invasive. It’s quick.”
As part of the LAUSD plan announced this month, all students and staff will get an initial baseline test in coming weeks to ensure the incidence of COVID-19 is low, and then another test immediately before returning to school, Superintendent Aus
tin Beutner said Monday.
Periodic testing will continue throughout the school year under a collaboration chaired by Beutner and former U.S. Education Arne Duncan that also includes the University of California, Los Angeles, Johns Hopkins and Stanford universities, Microsoft and several health providers.
“Pulling off something like this is almost a miraculous undertaking in and of itself because there are so many things that could go wrong,” said Arlene Inouye, secretary of United Teachers Los Angeles, which negotiated conditions for school nurses tasked with testing, “but what’s really encouraging is that there are a lot of partners in this venture.”
The number of districts relying on some level of testing to keep the virus in check is likely to increase after President Donald Trump this week encouraged governors to prioritize schools when distributing millions of rapid coronavirus tests provided by the federal government.
In western New York, the Niagara Falls City School District did not initially include school-based testing in its reopening plans, reasoning that was the job of hospitals and doctors.
But on Wednesday, Superintendent Mark Laurrie was in the process of buying five rapid testing machines for his district, each about $2,500, after shutting down a middle school where three staff members tested positive.
“When you see the impact that has on academics — that’s what we’re here for — then I think there’s a higher calling to do more testing,” Laurrie said. “That way we don’t have to rely on anybody else. We can rely on ourselves.”