East Haven among few districts offering in- school COVID testing
EAST HAVEN — The East Haven Public Schools system has begun offering free, in- school COVID- 19 rapid testing for students in an effort to speed up and improve contract tracing, making East Haven one of the few school systems in Connecticut to offer it so far.
In doing so, East Haven is following in the footsteps of Middletown, which became the first school system in the state to offer in- school rapid testing back on Nov. 2. The state is looking to extend the in- school testing statewide.
The East Haven school system has paired with Fair Haven Community Health Center and the East Shore District Health Department to offer the service, according to a letter sent to parents by Superintendent of Schools Erica Forti, Fair Haven Community Health Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Benjamin Oldfield and East Shore District Health Department Director Michael Pascucilla.
The program began Dec. 7 in school- based health clinics Fair Haven Community Health already operated at East Haven High School and Joseph Melillo Middle School, and also East Haven Academy, which shares a building with Melillo.
The tests offer results in 15 minutes.
“We are very excited to be one of only a selected few of Connecticut school districts to have this opportunity to offer in- school COVID testing,” Forti’s letter said.
In addition to Middletown and East Haven and other partnerships through community health clinics, the state has received requests for Abbott BinaxNOWrapid tests from the Stratford Health Department, Stratford Public Schools and Stratford’s Wooster Middle School; Hartford Public Schools; Norwich Public Schools; and a number of private schools, according to Lora Rae Anderson, spokeswoman for the state Office of the Chief Operating Officer.
The private schools include Eagle Hill School and Brunswick School in Greenwich, Salisbury School, The Woodstock Academy, Avon Old Farms School, Indian Mountain School in Lakeville, Rectory School in Pomfret, American School for the Deaf in West Hartford and Susan Wayne Center of Excellence in Thompson.
Under the East Haven program, the school system provides COVID- 19 testing for “symptomatic” students at East Haven Academy, Joseph Melillo Middle School and East Haven High School. It is open to any student enrolled in the school- based health center who has been assessed by a school nurse after presenting symptoms that might indicate COVID- 19.
The testing, supported by