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COVID-19 Testing Program

View the East Greenbush Central School District COVID-19 Testing Plan (PDF). Last updated January 5, 2021.

Introduction:

The East Greenbush Central School District, in coordination with Questar III BOCES, has prepared a preliminary plan for a COVID-19 Testing Program informed by New York State’s Micro-Cluster Strategy.

The state’s Micro-Cluster Strategy will mandate testing in Yellow, Orange, or Red micro-cluster zones, based on positivity rates, daily new cases and hospital capacity. If a zip code, census tract or region is placed in one of those zones by the state, there will be restrictions for schools.  

Zone testing will be required for in-person staff and students if local areas are designated by New York State.

  • Yellow Zone – 20% of both staff and students over a two-week period
    • A geographic area will be eligible to enter a Yellow Zone if it has a 3 percent positivity rate (7-day average) over the past 10 days and is in the top 10 percent in the state for hospital admissions per capita over the past week and is experiencing week-over-week growth in daily admissions.
  • Orange Zone – 20% of both staff and students over four-week period
      • The numbers tested should be proportionately spread across the month with 10% the maximum/minimum to be tested biweekly
    • A geographic area will be eligible to enter an Orange Zone if it has a 4 percent positivity rate (7-day average) over the last 10 days and it is located in a region that has reached 85 percent hospital capacity. Alternatively, a geographic area may also become an Orange Zone if the State Department of Health determines the region’s rate of hospital admissions is unacceptably high and a zone designation is appropriate to control the rate of growth.
  • Red Zone – 30% of both staff and students over four-week period
      • The numbers tested should be proportionately spread across the month with 15% the maximum/minimum to be tested biweekly.
    • A red zone will be implemented when a region, after the cancellation of elective procedures and a 50 percent increase in hospital capacity, is 21 days away from reaching 90 percent hospital capacity on the current 7-day growth rate.

Testing:

The East Greenbush CSD has identified the following components in preparing for micro-cluster zone testing. The district will be using the Questar III BOCES Limited Services Laboratory (LSL) to conduct antigen testing with district facilities. Test kits will be procured by Questar III BOCES and disseminated to the district office through a chain of custody. Results will be communicated back to Questar through the superintendent’s office using a secure email provided by Questar.

In addition, a communication plan will be developed to relay test site information, process, and result reporting to all stakeholders.

Testing Sites:

Currently, the online reporting dashboard identifies the following locations as sites to report testing data:

Employees:

  • All employee tests are by appointment during school hours on Wednesdays.
School Level Date/Time Location
Elementary Staff Wednesday 

(during school hours)

  • Health office or location TBD in your building
Middle School Staff Wednesday 

(during school hours) 

  • Health office or location TBD in your building
High School Staff Wednesday 

(during school hours) 

  • Health office or location TBD in your building

K-12 Hybrid Students:

  • All student tests are by appointment.
  • A parent/guardian must accompany the student for testing.
  • Testing on Tuesdays and Saturdays will allow sufficient time for potential contact tracing in the event there are positive cases.
  • Actual testing dates will be communicated in advance.
School Level Date/Time Location
All Levels K-12 1st Tuesday Evening 

4:00 pm-8:00 pm 

  • Columbia High School Main Lobby
1st Saturday Morning

9:00 am-12:00 pm

  • Transportation Department (drive-through)
  • Columbia High School Main Lobby
2nd Tuesday Evening

4:00 pm-8:00 pm 

  • Goff Middle School Cafeteria
  • Donald P. Sutherland Elementary School Main Lobby
2nd Saturday Morning

9:00 am-12:00 pm

  • Transportation Department (drive-through)

Testing Roster:

  • The district will establish testing rosters for staff and students in-person in identified facilities based on returned Consent Forms
    • Randomized selections process will be conducted
      • Staff – 10% yellow/orange zones; 15% red zone
      • Students – 10% yellow/orange zones; 15% red zone
        • Parent/guardians permissions will be acquired in advance of testing
  • Rosters will be provided to each testing location on each day of testing
    • It is preferred that the ECLRS reporting spreadsheet be used as the testing roster for ease in tracking and recording test results.

Consent Form:

Parents of students in the hybrid program and all district staff will receive a Consent Form for COVID-19 Testing via email. Just as we have asked for continued assistance with following COVID-19 protocols, we would need parental permission to administer tests to their children. Once parents receive the consent form, they should fill it out by Friday, January 8. (The consent form will only be sent to parents of students enrolled in the hybrid program. Students who are learning in a full virtual setting are not required to be tested.)

Testing is not mandatory and no one will be excluded from school or work because they choose not to be tested. However, if we do not receive consent from the minimum required percentage of students and staff, we would be forced to close our schools and shift to fully remote instruction.

Testing Operations:

Staffing and Setup

  • Identify testing staff for each site
    • Parking Lot
      • Parking Attendant (1)
    • Testing Room
      • Check-In Station (1)
      • Swabbing Station (1)
      • Process Station (2)
      • Administrator (1)
    • Reporting Room (1)
  • Only nursing staff will conduct swabbing of individuals 
    • Request for Questar nurses to assist in testing must be done 72 hours prior to testing date
  • Testing personnel will be deployed to the site to set up the room with assistance of maintenance staff
    • Tables
    • Chairs
    • Cleaning/disinfection kit
    • Chromebooks/chargers and wifi access
    • No-touch thermometers
    • COVID-19 Screening Forms
    • Pens
    • Red bag and container
  • Set up testing totes to bring all necessary materials
    • Test kits (place test kit order with Questar 48 hours prior to testing)
    • PPE
    • Supplies
      • Cleaning/Sanitizing wipes
      • Hand sanitizer
      • Facial tissues
  • The following stations will be required:
      • Check-in station
      • Swabbing station
      • Processing station
    • Staffing requirements
      • Check-in station – 1 staff
      • Swabbing station – 1 staff
        • One nurse to swab
      • Processing station
        • One staff member to:
          • Align ID sticker with test kit
          • Receive swab and add reagent
          • Seal card and hand off to timer
        • One staff member to:
          • Time kits at 15 minutes each
          • Record results and share with district administration
            • District administration to share with Questar through secure email
          • Discard test kits into red bags
  • PPE and Sanitization
    • Nurse
      • Full PPE
        • N95 mask
        • Face shield
        • Gown
        • Gloves
          • Change gloves between swabs
    • Support staff
      • Check-in station
        • Surgical mask
        • Face shield
        • Gloves
      • Processing station
        • Reagent processor
          • Surgical mask
          • Face shield
          • Gloves
          • Hand sanitizer to be used in between each processed swab
          • Gown
        • Time-keeper
          • Surgical mask
          • Face shield
          • Gloves
          • Gown

Testing Flow and Process:

The rapid test involves use of the Abbott, BinaxNow Antigen tests provided by the NYS Department of Health. School nurses will administer the tests, which involves a non-invasive cotton swab swiping just inside the lowermost portion of the nostril. These are not the deep-sinus swab tests that are conducted at medical facilities. The test results are available within minutes. Individual test results will only be shared with the family, testing personnel, the local department of health and district administrators in the event that a result is positive and requires contact tracing.

The district will test a pool of individuals representative of all schools within the district. If a student or staff member tests positive, they will be notified of the positive result and quarantined at home until they are released by the county department of health. The district will inform the school community of any positive cases as it has done in the past.

  • Individual reports to Check-in table (student must be accompanied by parent/guardian)
    • Individual fills out COVID-19 Screening Form
    • Staff takes temperature of individual checking in
    • Staff check in individual with testing roster and provides test number sticker to individual 
  • Swabbing station
    • Individual gives sticker to swabbing station
    • Sticker will be applied to test kit to connect the individual with the test kit
    • Nurse with full PPE to swab 12 ft from others
  • Processing station
    • Swab to handed off to process swab into card kit
    • 15-minute timing begins for each sealed card
    • Results recorded
      • Individuals will NOT wait for results. Staff and parent/guardian will be notified of results by the end of the day.

Reporting of Results: 

  • Testing data
    • Use ECLRS spreadsheet as testing roster for ease of tracking and reporting
    • All test results will be entered into ECLRS reporting spreadsheet on site for upload into ECLRS
    • Superintendent to email testing data to Questar using secure email
    • H&S staff will upload testing data into ECLRS at the completion of designated testing operations
    • District will enter positive testing data for students in district SMS
    • All completed testing forms will be filed in the district office
  • Notification of results to test subjects
    • Employees and parents will receive their test results on the same day of the test. 
      • Positive Result – Receives phone call and must enter mandatory quarantine. Instructions will be provided during the phone call.
      • Negative Result – Receives an email with their results.

 Communication Plan:

  • All district staff and K-12 parents/guardians will be informed of the COVID-19 Rapid Testing Program, the testing sites and process via email.
  • The COVID-19 Rapid Testing Plan will be posted on the district website at www.egcsd.org 
  • All district staff and parents of students enrolled in the hybrid program will receive a Consent Form via email.
  • All tests will be scheduled by appointment through an online system.

If you have any questions about our testing program, please contact our COVID-19 Coordinator Karen Vincent at VincentKa@egcsd.org or call your school nurse.