Final proposal for Wake schools' COVID-19 testing program will come this month

The first phase of the testing would begin later this month, under current plans, according to a presentation to the board Tuesday. Testing for all volunteers would begin in December or January.

Posted 1:07 a.m. Nov 3, 2021 — Updated 1:07 a.m. Nov 3, 2021

Emily Walkenhorst

, WRAL education reporter

CARY, N.C. — An agreement to conduct regular preventative screening for COVID-19 will soon come before the Wake County Board of Education.

The first phase of the testing — strictly for volunteers at limited schools — would begin later this month, under current plans, according to a presentation to the board Tuesday. Testing for all volunteers would begin in December or January.

Mako Medical will conduct testing for pools of six people at a time as the district gradually begins screening for those who have volunteered to be tested. Employees can volunteer and students must have the consent of their parents or guardians, even if they are 18 years old.

Testing would start at a limited number of schools. Those would be schools with active or “potential” clusters of COVID-19 cases. Central office staff would also be a part of the first phase.

The test pools would work like this:

A pool of people is swabbed for COVID-19
Portions of their samples are combined into one, which is then run through a single analysis
A negative pool result is a presumptive negative test for all
A positive pool result would require each member of the pool to be tested again, also by Mako Medical

Board Member Jim Martin said he was concerned that people would have to be tested again, especially if Mako Medical isn’t on a campus everyday.

The swabs should be able to support the pool test and an individual test of the remaining sample, he said.

A lot of information remained unclear Tuesday, as the Wake County Public School System continues to finalize the details of the agreement. They told the board they hoped to bring a final agreement before them for approval on Nov. 16.

Those whose pool test is positive would be subject to the same quarantine rules as anyone else who is exposed to the virus.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is offering a free COVID-19 testing program for schools following a pilot program last spring. More than 300 schools and school districts have signed up for it, though they haven’t necessarily begun testing.

North Carolina has $315 million that schools with approved testing programs can access for reimbursement payments. Those funds come via $10 billion allocated in the most recent federal coronavirus stimulus package for all states to do screening testing in schools.

Screening testing is seen as a way to detect COVID-19 cases early and reduce spread of the virus. It’s unclear what the impact could be on quarantines once implemented in Wake County.

Suggest A Correction