CHESTERFIELD, S.C. — Last week, 800 rapid COVID-19 test kits arrived at the Chesterfield County Schools office, which is enough to test about 10% of the students and staff members in the district.
However, Chesterfield County Schools Superintendent Harrison Goodwin told Channel 9 that the on-campus testing will most likely start after winter break.
[SC schools raise concerns about on-campus COVID-19 testing]
The district, like many others, is still working out plans for how to pull this off.
“We don’t want students coming to school sick, just looking for a test,” Goodwin said.
School officials are urging sick students to stay at home but are concerned that parents will send them to school knowing they can be tested there.
That’s why Chesterfield County school district officials are creating several central test sites around the county where students might go, so they aren’t doing testing on every school campus.
“We think the test is for the kids who start feeling poorly during the day. We call the parent, get the permission we need to and then be able to test them so that going home, they know what they’re dealing with,” Goodwin said.
Each school district in South Carolina counties that Channel 9 covers is at a different point in planning for COVID19 testing at school.
Lancaster County Schools are not participating, because officials are concerned that students will come to school sick to be tested. That burden is too great on school nurses.
Chester and Chesterfield schools both have test kits and are working on plans to administer them.
In York County, Clover schools haven’t decided on testing yet while Rock Hill and Fort Mill are working on their testing plans.
York schools don’t have the test kits yet but are also working on testing logistics.
Chester schools Superintendent Antwon Sutton shared many of the same concerns as other districts.
He told Channel 9 that students might be tested outside, such as drive-up testing to minimize concerns on campus and would start with a call to a parent if a child is showing symptoms of COVID-19.
“When that parent arrives for that child, the nurse would most likely step outside of the school and do it,” Sutton said. “Administer the test in 15 minutes and give them the results. They would proceed on from there.”
The Department of Health and Environmental Control informed schools that the rapid test is only for people showing symptoms.
[WSOC SPECIAL SECTION: RETURN TO LEARNING]
It’s not accurate enough to detect asymptomatic cases. Parental consent will be needed for any child to be tested.
Another concern schools are facing is their nurses. They are already stressed because they must put in lots of time on contact tracing. They have a lot of the work already, and school districts don’t want to run them off.
“They could leave us and take a job at a hospital for twice the pay,” Sutton said. “They’re doing so much already right now.”
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