Dear Parents and Guardians,
BRES and BRHS will be adding a new strategy to our COVID-19 prevention measures in the new year: “pooled testing” in grades preK-12. With pooled testing, enrolled students and staff in a classroom will have a COVID-19 test once a week.
Pooled testing is a free and voluntary program.
Students participating in pooled testing will not need to quarantine from school if they are considered close contacts of a positive case, as long as they do not have symptoms.
Parents must sign a consent form in order for their child to participate.
We believe pooled testing will be an important part of keeping classrooms safe and will greatly reduce the number of days any student will need to be out of school in quarantine..
To get started, please fill out the consent form with your permission to perform a COVID-19 pooled test for your student at Boothbay Region Elementary. This process should take no more than 5 minutes to complete using a computer or a smartphone.
1. First, click here (https://testcenter.concentricb...).
2. Then, enter this access code: PTI0DH for BRES, access code PU8CCG for BRHS students
3. Finally, enter your child’s information, and you’re done!
Note: If you need to provide consent for more than one child, please complete the process once for each child.
HERE IS HOW POOLED TESTING WORKS:
● One day per week, each student who is enrolled in the program will do a nasal self -swab in class. Each child will be given a swab, and they will put it just inside each nostril, and then all the swabs will be placed in one testing tube.
● The tube will be sent to a lab. In about 48 hours, the school nurse will see the results of the test. If the tube, or “pool,” is negative, nothing needs to be done. The class will continue to be tested on a regular weekly basis.
● If a tube is positive, each person in that group must have another test. The school nurse will do a rapid “BinaxNOW” test at school. Each student that has a negative “BinaxNOW” test can return to class.
● Any student who is positive must stay in the isolation area of the nurse’s office and their parent will be notified. The parent must come to school to pick up their child. A student who is positive for COVID cannot stay in school and cannot ride the bus home. Please have a plan to pick up your child from school during school hours in the event your child becomes ill. Be sure the school has your most up-to-date contact information.
● Following our current CDC guidelines, anyone who is a close contact of a positive case and is NOT part of pooled testing or fully vaccinated, will need to quarantine for 10 days. A COVID test is recommended 5-7 days from exposure.
● Any student who is a close contact and IS part of pooled testing, can continue to come to school and participate in sports and after school activities, as long as they do not have symptoms of COVID. Students who are part of pooled testing may continue to come to school because they are being tested weekly for COVID.
● IMPORTANT: Any student who has symptoms of COVID – regardless if they are part of pooled testing or not – must stay home until symptoms have resolved and/or they have been cleared by their physician.
For more information on pooled testing from the company we will be working with, Click here: https://testcenter.concentricb....
Pooled testing is slated to begin January 10th
To learn more about pooled testing, read the attached overview of Concentric’s pooled testing program and watch this video from another school using this service.
For more information, visit Concentric by Ginkgo’s website or reach out to Kate Schwehm, School Nurse 633-9814.
Thank you,
Tricia Campbell
Principal, Boothbay Region High School