California schools could be required to develop COVID-19 testing plans under proposed law

SACRAMENTO — California could require school districts to develop statefunded COVID-19 testing plans in cooperation with state health officials, according to a newly proposed bill.

Sen. Richard Pan, DSacramento, on Tuesday announced Senate Bill 1479, which would mandate testing plans and require the California Department of Public Health to help school districts develop them.

SB 1479 would allocate funding to support the testing programs and would also “expand the department’s contagious, infectious, or communicable disease testing and other public health mitigation efforts to include prekindergarten, onsite after school programs and child care centers.”

The bill wouldn’t require preschools and child care centers to create COVID testing plans, but it would provide funds to implement programs if facilities decided to develop them voluntarily.

SB 1479 doesn’t say how much funding would be needed to support testing plan development and implementation, but it mentions existing law allocates money to CDPH for programs “related to the safe reopening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.” This includes funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and the state’s Safe Schools for All program.

“We’re still collecting data on how much the state has dispensed for school testing from existing federal and state funds,” Pan said. “In fact, I asked that at the last budget hearing. And of course, when this bill goes to appropriations, that will be also determined by the appropriations staff, as well. But certainly we are working on both the budget side — as well as, of course, with this bill — to secure funding for testing programs at schools.”

CDPH currently offers a school COVID testing program for kindergarten through 12th grade with training and support, but participation is optional. The state doesn’t require schools to test students for the virus.

Pan’s bill also wouldn’t mandate testing — school districts would just need to develop plans and designate staff members to report information about the plans to CDPH.

The senator said he hopes developing testing plans would prompt schools to follow through and implement them.

“I think, to a certain degree, the accountability will be from the people who live in the community,” Pan said. “So, the students, the parents, the staff, the people who are in the school district, because they don’t want to see children getting infected, and they’d like to know what’s going on in their schools.”

Pan touted SB 1479 as part of a package of bills he and other members of the legislative Vaccine Work Group have developed around COVID prevention, including in schools.