The St. Vrain Valley School District will begin the voluntary testing of teachers and staff members for signs of COVID-19 infection in early September in hopes of heading off an outbreak in school buildings.
The school district is working with Gary Community Investments COVID-19 Check Colorado to administer and cover the costs of the first two tests, said Jackie Kapushion, the district’s deputy superintendent. Kapushion told school board members Wednesday the testing will be done at the district’s Innovation Center, 33 Quail Road in Longmont, starting Sept. 8.
Testing will stretch from noon to five p.m. each day and the district hopes to test at least 300 staff members a day, Kapushion said. The district plans to test as many as 4,000 staff members.
St. Vrain also wants to get the tests out as quickly as possible to ensure results come back within a 48-hour time frame, Kapushion said..
“We want to get the tests to FedEx by five each evening to get the tests back by within 48 hours,” she said. “A two to three day window for tests results is very important,” she said.
She said if a staff member becomes symptomatic of COVID-19, they can return for another test.
The district will also ask the staff member to stay home, Kapushion said, adding staff members will not be forced undergo testing.
“We certainly encourage testing but none of the testing will be mandatory,” she said.
Superintendent Don Haddad said the district will do the testing though September before deciding what to do in October.
The district’s students began all online learning this month while teachers and staff members returned to their buildings to conduct classes via remote technology. The district is expected to turn to a hybrid model of learning in October, with students showing up for in-person learning at least part of the week.
Haddad told the board members there were glitches after the launch of the district’s LaunchED Virtual Academy for students who are opting for full online instruction.
Most of the problems have been smoothed over he said and compared the start of the virtual academy with opening up a brand new school in just a few short months. As many as 3,000 students enrolled in the academy.
“There were some bumps in the road, some of these are unchartered waters, but I am very appreciative of the teachers, parents and students who helped get this started,” he said.
