DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF)- School districts across Texas could soon receive more than 1 million Covid-19 rapid tests for students and staff.
Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Education Agency, and the Texas Division of Emergency Management announced the creation of a COVID-19 Rapid Testing Pilot Program for Texas school systems. This program will help schools conduct rapid tests of district employees and students, with the written permission of their parents, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on campuses. Through this pilot program, TDEM will provide participating school systems with COVID-19 rapid antigen tests that will be administered to students, teachers, and staff who choose to participate.
The launch of the pilot program will include eight participating school systems with plans to significantly ramp up the program across the state. Texas public and private schools interested in applying for the testing program will be able to apply through the Texas Education Agency no later than Wednesday, October 28.
“As more students return to campus for in-person instruction, the State of Texas is working alongside school officials to provide resources to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 among students and staff,” said Governor Abbott. “Thank you to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for providing these advanced antigen tests to the State of Texas. This rapid testing pilot program will be an effective strategy to protect the health and safety of students and staff while helping to further ensure that Texas students have access to a quality education throughout the pandemic and beyond.”
Xavier De La Torre, a superintendent in El Paso, says his school is one of eight selected to pilot the testing program.
He tells WFAA-TV it’s a game changer because the tests are a fraction of the cost, they’re easy to use and give results in 15 minutes. “In ymny ways it looks like a pregnancy test..one stripe good two stripes not good,” he said.
De La Torre says he’s excited about the program and his school, Ysleta got 12,000 tests. They’ve used 700 and found two positives.
the TEA said they tried to select a wide range of schools but didn’t provide details on how districts were selected or how many tests each received. none of the districts chosen rank even near the worst in the state for outbreaks.
The state will let other districts apply for tests in the next two weeks.
