As the Biden administration urges states to increase testing in schools - and take advantage of $10 billion in federal funding earmarked for that purpose - and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promotes test-to-stay programs as a way for students exposed to COVID-19 to avoid quarantine, schools are under pressure to ramp up testing. “We were well ahead of the game,” he said.īut many districts across the country are behind. He frequently hears from administrators in other districts who are struggling to manage the process on their own. “We’re trying to stay in the business of education and not dabble in the business of public health,” said Eric Verete, the district’s safety and emergency manager. (Linda Jacobson for The 74)įearing that testing and contact tracing would take staff members’ time away from instruction, the district is spending $12.6 million in federal funds on a contract with a public health staffing agency, AM LLC, to place a liaison in each school. Kaur said some residents think “COVID isn’t real.” Janak Kaur was working in her family’s sign business before taking a position as a COVID liaison at Indian Springs High School in the San Bernardino City Unified School District in California. San Bernardino County includes the least-vaccinated zip code in Southern California, and its overall 49 percent rate is lower than that of many counties in the state. California’s mandate that all school employees be vaccinated or get tested weekly went into effect Oct. Meanwhile, the officer fills out a registration on a website where he’ll get his results in a day or two.Īs the school’s COVID liaison - one of 76 based at each of the San Bernardino City district’s schools - Kaur sometimes handles 20 tests a day, but she’s expecting to get a lot busier. In the “isolation room” at Indian Springs High School - the command center for any COVID-related issues on campus - Janak Kaur seals the school security officer’s swab sample in a plastic bag. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox.
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