Update on COVID-19 asymptomatic testing for students

March 8, 2021

Dear DC Public Schools Community,

In early December, we announced that the DC Public Schools, in partnership DC Health and following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, would provide free asymptomatic at-school testing for COVID-19 for students attending in-person programming. Under this plan, teams of roving nurses from DC Health provide onsite, at-school asymptomatic testing for DCPS students on a routine basis. Through this partnership, the goal was for all students with a signed consent form to be tested at school approximately every 10 days.

As our nation’s medical experts learn more about COVID-19, testing guidance continues to evolve as well. With that, we’re writing to provide an update on DCPS asymptomatic testing plans for students going forward.

DC Health, aligned with the CDC, now recommends weekly asymptomatic testing using a random sampling of 10 percent of the student population, selected from students with signed asymptomatic testing consent forms. This means that for a school with an in-person programming enrollment of 100 (and all of them have signed consent forms), 10 students would be selected at random each week and be tested.

Accordingly, and in partnership with DC Health and Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) Children’s School Services (CSS), we will also shift the role of administering student asymptomatic testing to our School Nurses starting Monday, March 15. 

Our school nurses play a critical role at our school buildings and they know your children. Because of these relationships and school nurses’ familiarity with their school community, we are confident this shift will create a stronger and more reliable testing program. Utilizing resources at the school level also allows schools to create a testing schedule that works best for their cohorts and school community. Beginning this week, the DCPS Health Services team will hold trainings for schools and the CSS team will begin training school nurses as we implement this new protocol.

Please refer to the family FAQ below for general questions around testing frequency, consent forms, and other questions. You can also reach out to the DCPS COVID-19 Safety Hotline at (202) 442-5656 or by email at DCPS.CovidSafety@k12.dc.gov.

If you would like to sign a COVID-19 asymptomatic testing consent form for your child who is attending in person programming, please contact your child’s school directly to submit the form available at this link.

These changes apply to asymptomatic student testing only. Schools will continue to provide on-site rapid testing for symptomatic individuals.

Thank you to our parents and families who are taking advantage of this pilot program to date — your experiences have informed how we’re moving forward. We believe these updates to our testing protocol will increase confidence in reopening our schools and will continue to reinforce the strong health and safety commitments of DC Public Schools.

In partnership,

DC Public Schools Student Health Services
 

Asymptomatic Student Testing Frequently Asked Questions

Why are changes being made to the DCPS asymptomatic testing protocol now? 

As our nation’s medical experts have learned more about COVID-19, testing guidance has evolved as well. DC Health, aligned with the CDC, now recommends weekly asymptomatic testing using a random sampling of 10% of the in-person student population with signed asymptomatic testing consent forms. We will also shift the role of administering student asymptomatic testing to our School Nurses starting the week of March 15. Because of nurses’ relationships with students and familiarity with their school community, we are confident this shift will create a stronger and more reliable testing program.

What does this mean for my student who is enrolled in in-person programing and has a signed consent form for testing? 

All students enrolled in in-person programming with a signed consent form are eligible for testing and are included in the population of students considered for the weekly 10% sampling. The weekly sample is randomly selected on the day of testing to ensure that it only includes students that are present at school. The number of students with signed consent forms will impact how frequently an individual student might be tested .

Will I need to sign another consent form?

The consent form for asymptomatic testing is valid for 90 days. A new consent form is only needed once the current consent form expires. To check on the status of your consent form, please reach out to your child’s school directly. Forms are available online at https://dcpsreopenstrong.com/in-person-learning-family-guide/.

How will I be notified if my child is being tested at school?

Students selected as part of the random sample group are determined the day of testing. This is done to ensure that the testing sample accurately reflects students that are present at school on the testing date. As a result, prior notification of testing is not feasible. However, schools will share their testing schedule with families. We ask that families talk with their student about the possibility of being selected as part of the testing sample. Families will receive a notification if/when their student participates in testing.

Will DCPS be testing less students with this new testing protocol?

The new asymptomatic testing protocol has every school testing 10% of their in-person programming population on a weekly basis. Most schools will see a decrease in the number of students that are tested at one time, but a significant increase in the frequency of testing at their schools.

What are the benefits of having school nurses conduct testing?  

There are several benefits of having our school nurses conduct student asymptomatic testing. First, our school nurses are responsible for symptomatic testing and are therefore very familiar with the testing process. Secondly, our school nurses are valued members of our DCPS school communities and already have established relationships with our students. Finally, our school nurses are internal resources that are in our school daily, thus making it relatively easy to implement a weekly testing process.

How will students be randomly sampled each week to receive asymptomatic testing?

School will randomly test from the group of students enrolled in in-person programming with signed consent forms. The number of students equal to 10% of their in-person programming enrollment with consent forms will be tested weekly. For example, if a school has an in-person programming enrollment of 100 students (and all of them have signed consent forms), they will weekly test 10 students.

If I have questions, who can I contact for additional information? 

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact DCPS COVID-19 Safety Hotline at (202) 442-5656 or by email at DCPS.CovidSafety@k12.dc.gov.