From the Superintendent's Desk
Mark Tucker, M.A. - Caledonia Central Supervisory Union
Covid-19 Testing Options - Keeping our Kids in School
September 28, 2021
Dear parents,
I feel very confident in saying that having your children home in quarantine because they are identified as a Close Contact of a person who has Covid-19 is problematic for most of you - especially for parents of younger children where childcare is a necessity. And I am absolutely certain that every single teacher and staff member in our seven schools wants your child in school with them every single day. For those two reasons, I am writing today to advocate for your participation in Covid-19 testing that is, or soon will be, available in your child's school.
What We Have Now
Covid-19 Surveillance Testing is designed to "catch" positive cases of Covid-19 in persons who are not showing symptoms of Covid-19. I am writing today to remind you that we will be offering Covid-19 Surveillance Testing on a weekly basis for all students aged 5 and older whose parent/caregiver has given us parental consent for the testing. We did a round of Surveillance Testing today with school and central office staff and shook the bugs out of the process (it actually went quite well). Your child's school will be ready for student Surveillance Testing starting next Tuesday, October 5th, and subsequent Tuesdays whenever school is in session. But we need your consent. Testing of persons under the age of 18 requires consent from the family, and no student will be tested unless we have that consent.
Many of you have already provided the required Consent for Testing and we have those students logged in the testing database. You are all set. If you haven't consented and want to, you can provide consent in either of two ways - filling out a paper consent form or giving consent online. I have asked the School Admin Assistants to send home a paper copy of the Consent Form for you to complete and return to school. Staff at school will enter the consent data into the database using the information you provide in writing.
But, online consent is faster if you have that capability (a web browser and internet). Click here to access the online consent form. The link opens in your web browser. Click the “Consent Now” button and you will see two steps: Step 1: Select Your School District defaults to “Caledonia Central SU” – ignore that and go to Step 2: Select Your School. The dropdown menu presents a list of the test sites in CCSU – the seven schools and the central office. Select the school your child attends and a consent window opens. There you will indicate if this is consent for adults or children under 18 – select “Student Under 18” and complete the required information. If you have more than one child, you will have to repeat this process for each one.
Whether on paper or online, you only need to give consent one time to allow testing every week.
More Options Are Coming
The State is working on two additional testing protocols that are intended to reduce the number of students who have to go into quarantine because of Close Contact with an infected person.
The first is "Test to Stay (TTS)" and the second is "Responsive Testing."
- TTS will allow students who are Asymptomatic, Unvaccinated, and identified as Close Contacts to receive a daily Antigen test; if the test is negative, they can stay in school. TTS should dramatically reduce the number of students in quarantine.
- Responsive Testing will provide access to home PCR test kits that will eliminate the need to go to a Covid-19 test site to get the required negative PCR test that allows your child to return to school following a required quarantine.
I have a general sense of how these two programs will work, but I need to wait for formal written guidance. As soon as I get that guidance, I will share it.
Until then, Surveillance Testing is useful as a means to identify asymptomatic infected persons so that we can reduce exposure and thereby reduce the number of persons - students and staff - who have to quarantine.
In Summary
I want to be clear, once again, that student testing is an opt-in process - no consent from you = no testing for your child at school. It is up to you whether you will allow us to test your children, but I hope you will seriously consider it.
Surveillance Testing, Test to Stay, and Response Testing are all different, but they are intended to work together, with the aim of limiting the amount of lost instruction time for your children. Every one of these programs will place a demand on our staff at school to ensure that they are done correctly. I can say right now that we will find a way to make them all work, because we are committed to the idea that your children should be in school.
Mark Tucker, M.A.
Superintendent