Pasco schools to join WA districts already rapid testing staff, students for COVID

Pasco schools are included in a Washington state plan to increase COVID-19 testing in schools, but the district is still working out what that will look like.

It is one of 48 school districts joining the second wave of testing sites being set up. Gov. Jay Inslee announced the expansion during a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

The decision comes the same week that the Pasco district is bringing back sixth- and seventh-grade students into classrooms. Eighth- and ninth-grade students are returning to schools next week.

The remaining Pasco secondary-level students head back to in-person learning at the beginning of March.

Pasco — the largest Tri-Cities school district with nearly 19,000 students — had been looking to join the pilot COVID testing program since January, but school leaders are still working on details.

Administrators were scheduled to meet with the state Department of Health about the program on Wednesday afternoon.

Shane Edinger, the Pasco district’s director of public affairs, said the testing program can be tailored to each school district and can involve staff, students and families.

“It’s an opportunity for us to provide another layer of confidence to our families and staff,” he said. “It helps in our efforts to safely serve our students and staff.”

They hope by the end of February to have more details about who could be included in the program.

COVID-19 cases

The school district had 53 COVID cases — 42 students and 11 staff — during the first two weeks of the month. Of those who tested positive, 16 were in the schools when they were contagious, according to the district.

Kennewick has reported 31 cases — 21 students and 10 staff — since the beginning of the month, and Richland reported nine cases and five them were staff members this month.

Inslee said that paying for the increased testing should not be an problem for districts.

The nonprofit Health Commons Project, the Washington state Department of Health and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction have been running a pilot program at 11 school districts, including in Spokane and Yakima.

The project helped organize the COVID testing site near Columbia Basin College in Pasco, and helped school districts create their own plans for testing.

Spokane has had the drive-through service open to staff, students and families on a volunteer basis. While Yakima has on-site testing for students.

Since Jan. 11, Spokane schools have tested 1,000 staff and students, said Spokane school’s Director of Health Services Rebecca Doughty.

“The number of tests we have completed has steadily increased since implementation — it takes a bit of time to really get the word out,” she told the Herald. “We feel this has filled a gap in testing access, particularly for our families. We can rule out COVID-19 quickly in most cases, and get kids back to school and back to learning.”

State health officials are looking to start with testing people who have symptoms and then expand the testing.

Both districts pointed out that the testing is voluntary.

Shaun Carey, the Enumclaw School District superintendent, spoke at the Tuesday news conference, and said COVID testing has proven to be a useful tool in dealing with the virus.

His district has been using it along with social distancing, wearing masks and other measures.

“This is part of our ongoing effort to give more students the option to return to instruction,” Inslee said. “About 50 more school district will now be participating in in this volunteer program this month. We hope that this number will grow.”

Pasco reopening

It is the final Tri-City school district to agree to bring students back after Dr. Amy Person with the Benton Franklin Health District recommended beginning to reopen classrooms.

The district has been slower to open in part because of the higher case rates in Franklin County. For the two weeks ending in February, the county had 416 cases per 100,000 people.

Kennewick brought its high school students back in February and Richland expects to have all students back in hybrid learning by Feb. 22.

The state guidance also says areas with more than 350 cases per 100,000 during a two-week period should stick to elementary students in classes of 15 or less.

Dr. Person said that the guidance is placing less importance on case rates and more importance on trends, and that the rate of COVID has been declining in the Tri-Cities area.

It’s a move that Inslee congratulated on Tuesday. He said it’s important for districts to bring back students safely.

“Improved testing will help educators and families feel more secure as they return to or continue on-site learning,” Inslee said. “I know the past year has been extremely challenging for students, their families and educators. We all want the best for every student and I am confident that we can continue to get more children back in the classroom.”