EPSD: On Site Testing For Students And Staff That Are Asymptomatic

Press release from the East Providence School District:

District Office Hours: M-F 8am - 4pm

Dear Parents & Guardians,

On Site Testing for Students and Staff that are Asymptomatic

East Providence School District will be providing asymptomatic testing to students and staff in the coming weeks. Consent letters will be emailed to all parents and must be returned to your child’s school no later than Friday, January 22, 2021. Tests will be administered during school hours to those students with signed consent slips only starting the week of January 25th.

We will also schedule one night of testing at your child’s school if you would like to accompany your child. This Binax test antigen card is a one minute test and results will be available within 15 minutes. If your child is positive, the school nurse will call you.

The Binax Now COVID-1 Antigen Test is a voluntary self-swab test. Students 12 years old and older can swab themselves but observed by a trained staff. Younger students will be swabbed by the school nurse. These cards take less than one minute to administer and are NOT the “deep nose” swabs that are found at other state testing sites. The BinaxNOW swabs work by swabbing the inside of each nostril five times in a circular motion and placing the swab on an antigen test card for results. This is an asymptomatic test designed to detect COVID-19 where no symptoms are present, helping to further prevent the potential spread of the virus within our schools.

School winter athletics will be required to participate in the testing and will be observed by our athletic trainer, Amanda Moran. Athletes will be provided more information from our Athletic Director.

Students will receive more information from their Principal regarding testing dates.

Thank you in advance for your understanding. Safety is everyone’s responsibility for a Happy and Healthy New Year for all.

Sincerely,

Kathryn M. Crowley

Superintendent of Schools

This press release was produced by the East Providence School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.