Wake schools working on COVID-19 'pool testing' program

Wake County education officials are drawing up an agreement to conduct voluntary COVID-19 testing that would screen students and staff, regardless of whether they have symptoms.

The Wake County Public School System’s agreement would be with Mako Medical, the state-contracted operator of COVID-19 screening programs in the state’s eastern half. It would be funded by federal dollars granted to the state.

The screening program would look like this:

• Staff and students would volunteer to be a part of “pools” that can be screened for COVID-19. Students, even those who are 18 years old, would need parental permission to participate.
• School staff would be educated on confidentiality and COVID-19 reporting
• The district would select pools to be tested, in part based on whether they expect higher incidence of COVID-19 at a particular school.
• Selected pools would take polymers chain reaction (PCR) tests upon entering school, administered by Mako Medical staff.
• The test results would be run together.
• If the result is positive, then each individual test would be run to determine who is positive.

Wake County Board of Education members have directed the district to implement a testing program as soon as possible.

Public reaction has been mixed. Many people have written or spoken comments in recent weeks in favor of a testing program.

Others have expressed concern that more testing would catch asymptomatic cases and potentially force children who are contacts into quarantine.

Board members have emphasized wanting to reduce quarantines as their reason for requiring masks in schools. Some have hoped catching COVID-19 cases earlier would reduce spread and quarantines, though some board members have also said they’re concerned that non-symptomatic staff could be quarantined or isolated while the district is short employees.

A gradual rollout

More than 300 school districts and individual schools have signed up to participate in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ testing program for schools. Most have only opted into the program this fall, and many haven’t started testing. The department lists parental “sign up” pages for only 67 districts and schools so far.

The rollout in the Wake County Public School System would be gradual, not starting at every school on day one.

It would start as early as November just with voluntary testing at schools with active or “potential” COVID-19 clusters and of central office staff. Potential clusters would be determined based on whether the school has a high case rate of COVID-19 or other factors, Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services Paul Koh told the Wake County Board of Education during a presentation Tuesday.

The second phase of testing would include everyone who volunteers.

Later on, perhaps by January, district officials anticipate a federal mandate to regularly test all employees who haven’t proven they’re vaccinated against the virus.

Board Chairman Keith Sutton asked whether the district planned to require screening of student-athletes.

That would be a board decision, Superintendent Cathy Q. Moore said.

Potential impact on quarantines

The district hasn’t yet decided whether a negative pool test result would be sufficient for a person to exit a required quarantine because of COVID-19 exposure.

Rules around quarantine continue to limit in-person attendance for students exposed to COVID-19, as well as students who have symptoms of COVID-19.

A student who only has symptoms can return to school upon 10 days passing since showing symptoms, receiving a negative test result or getting an alternative diagnosis from a physician, Koh said.

That could be a barrier for some families without nearby COVID-19 testing, Board Member Heather Scott said.

Scott said she’s lucky to live within five minutes of a testing site, where she was able to take her daughter for a test when she showed symptoms.

“If we didn’t have that, then I would have needed to take her to a pediatrician or just waited it out,” Scott said.

Koh said the problem Scott brought up is “something we have to talk about.”

“It’s something that we’re going to have to keep bookmarking and figure out to what degree diagnostic testing can be available in our community,” Koh said.

The district should make as available as possible resources for parents who find themselves in the same situation, Scott said.

The county health department calls for quarantining when exposed to COVID-19 except for fully vaccinated people without symptoms and students who were properly wearing a mask when exposed by another person who was properly wearing a mask. Otherwise, those exposed must quarantine for 14 days without symptoms or take a COVID-19 test. Infected people must isolate for 10 days without symptoms.

The ABC Science Collaborative is currently studying the impact of allowing exposed students who test negative for COVID-19 to stay in school, rather than quarantining. That policy experiment will take place in nine different North Carolina counties.

One person who commented during the Wake County Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, Ashley Seshul, worried more testing of people showing no signs of COVID-19 nor suspected of having it would leave more children out of classrooms. That would hurt academic performance that’s already suffering across the district, she said.

Wake County mother Wendy Fuller Runyon said she’s been frustrated trying to get her son back into school after he tested negative four times for COVID-19 after exposure. She said he had one symptom, a brief headache, tested positive once before the other tests and likely never have COVID-19. He’s getting poor grades from missed assignments in the meantime.

“There’s a breakdown in communication and because of that our children are suffering,” she said.

Other people who commented still supported the screening program.

“It is yet another important and crucial ensure to curb the spread of COVID-19,” district mother Joyce Rosenfeld told the board.