Tenn. districts add rapid tests for staff
Pilot program helps with quicker contact tracing
Schools, both public and private, across Tennessee are starting to pilot rapid COVID-19 tests in an effort to keep classrooms open.
Hamilton County Schools, the state’s fourth-largest district, began testing symptomatic teachers in the district’s middle schools on Monday, using Binaxnow rapid COVID-19 tests provided by the Tennessee Department of Health.
Mardee Miller, principal of Howard Connect Academy, was one of the first tested by a trained school nurse. The tests are available to school districts free of charge thanks to federal funding, according to Shelly Walker, spokesperson for the state Health Department, and provide results in just about twenty minutes.
“For me, I’m pretty excited knowing they can quickly get the test,” Miller said of her faculty. “What has been the delay that we have to juggle at the school, is staff getting the test and then having quarantine for the full 14 days. Now, if they know today they don’t feel good, it can start that process sooner.”
Instead of sending teachers and staff to their doctors, health clinics or the long lines outside some health department testing facilities, schools can instead test them on-site, sending home those who test positive and cutting down on the time it takes to contract trace within the school building.
Jennifer Bronson, lead COVID-19 response coordinator for Hamilton County Schools, said quick contact tracing within the school is the best way to mitigate the spread.
The Hamilton County Health Department recently halted its own contact tracing efforts due to limited capacity as case numbers rise in Chattanooga and the surrounding region, heightening the burden put on schools.
But the district pledged not to contribute to community spread when schools reopened, Bronson said.
What schools are participating?
As part of the pilot program, 23 school districts and schools, including charter schools and private schools, have requested to participate in the program, a partnership between the state health and education departments.
Hamilton County Schools was one of the first districts to provide the tests to teachers and district staff, initially through the district’s two staff health clinics.
Johnson County Schools, Murfreesboro City Schools and Rutherford County Schools are among the other school districts taking part in the program, as well as the network of KIPP charter schools in Memphis.
Metro Nashville Public Schools, the state’s second-largest school district, has expressed interest in participating and is trying to determine how the testing program might work in a large urban district, spokesperson Sean Braisted said in an e.
Staffing has been the biggest challenge since the school year began, Miller said — a concern echoed by school leaders across the state. Even though experts argue that schools haven’t significantly contributed to widespread transmission of COVID-19, staff shortages thanks to quarantines and isolations have led to school closures across the state.
In Middle Tennessee, Dickson County Schools plans to deploy its tests through the district’s employee clinic.
Danny Weeks, director of Dickson County Schools, said the district expects to receive its tests sometime this week.
In addition to recent changes by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to quarantine and isolation guidelines, Weeks hopes the ability to quickly test not only teachers, but bus drivers, cafeteria workers and the other staff members that enable schools to function will help the district keep schools open.
Will schools test students?
Most districts The Tennessean contacted do not have plans yet for mandatory testing for all staff or testing of students, though state guidance for initial use of the tests recommends testing all staff on a weekly basis, testing symptomatic staff or the possibility of testing students.
University School of Nashville, one of the independent schools that has requested tests from the health department, hasn’t clarified whether it will use the tests just for staff or for students. But Director Vincent Durnan said in an email the school anticipates using the tests “on an as-needed basis to provide an indicator when we have a health concern.”
Hamilton County Schools does plan to test symptomatic students beginning at the start of the spring semester. The district has rolled out a four-stage plan for testing which includes testing all staff, even those who are not symptomatic, by Feb. 1.
“The priority for everyone in Hamilton County Schools is to keep students and staff safe while continuing to help our children learn and grow,” Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools, said in a statement. “The rapid test pilot will be an important addition to our SAFE Pledge that is reducing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping our children in safe learning situations as our teachers and staff prepare them for success in life.”
The pilot program also provides PCR tests by Everlywell, a self-administered mail-in test for use for follow-up if an individual with symptoms tests negative or an asymptomatic individual tests positive using the rapid tests, according to Hamilton County Schools officials.
Bronson said providing school staff and students access to the rapid testing highlights the many ways schools are stepping up amid the pandemic.
“I think it almost goes without saying that during this pandemic everybody has had to take on roles and responsibilities that we’ve never had to and the district isn’t alone,” Bronson said. “Six months ago, I don’t think we would have thought we would be administering COVID-19 tests on campus, but now we are because of our commitment to keeping school open.”
James Evans, spokesperson for Rutherford County Schools, said in an email the district has agreed to participate in the pilot but has not received any additional info from the state yet.
The state education department has offered little details on the program, instead referring to the health department for more information.
Victoria Robinson, spokesperson for the education department, said the pilot program is one of several resources the state has provided to “help school districts make the best possible decisions for their local communities.”
“We are pleased that interested school districts now have the opportunity to choose to administer rapid testing as a resource to inform their planning and decision-making and to support their school communities,” Robinson said in an email.