D47 To Offer COVID Testing For Staff

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL — Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 will become the first school district in McHenry County to offer rapid COVID-19 testing for staff. Testing will start Monday, D47 officials announced Wednesday.

District 47 will use the BinaxNOW antigen test to provide a quick and convenient test for staff who may be experiencing COVID-like symptoms. Antigen testing helps detect certain proteins that are part of the COVID-19 virus.

The Illinois Department of public Health will cover the cost for the test kits.

“Being able to rule out COVID early on helps reduce community spread of the virus and allows the school district to maintain adequate staffing levels during the pandemic,” said District 47 superintendent Kathy Hinz.

Testing will be held most weekday afternoons at the District 47 administrative office, 300 Commerce Drive in Crystal Lake. Test results are typically available in 15-30 minutes: If the test result is positive, staff will need to isolate and obtain a PCR COVID test to confirm the results.

If the test result is negative, the D47 staff member will be able to return to work.

A school district or other organization must obtain approval from the state of Illinois to serve as a COVID-19 testing site.

This application process can take months to complete and includes obtaining a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) waiver and a standing order from a physician to allow school nurses to freely administer the tests, according to a District 47 news release.

Tony Brooks, District 47’s director of special education, and Amanda Keegan, West Elementary school nurse and member of the McHenry county school nurse taskforce, started this application process in December and are credited with bringing rapid COVID testing to the district.

“We are grateful to Tony and Amanda for taking on this major initiative,” Hinz said. “Though the number of positive COVID cases within our school district remains low and many staff members have now been vaccinated, we are thrilled to add another layer to our multi-tiered health and safety plan.”

Hinz notes that COVID testing will serve as an additional mitigation measure to help support the continued facilitation of in-person learning in District 47 and that the district hopes to be able to expand this testing opportunity to students next year.