Many school districts in central Pennsylvania are not opting in to a new COVID-19 pooled testing program the state is rolling out this year, saying they have unanswered questions and concerns about the logistics.
The state has an $87 million contract with Boston-based Concentric by Ginkgo Bioworks to test students and educators by the classroom, which can be faster and cheaper than testing by the person. The goal is to quickly find cases of COVID-19 in K-12 schools and stop the spread before outbreaks happen.
Scott Graham, superintendent of the Bald Eagle Area School District in Centre County, said it sounds like a great idea, but he needs more information from the state.
“Tell me how I can sell this to my community, so we can do this," Graham said. "I mean they haven’t sold it to me, because every time I have a question, the answer is ‘We don’t know.’”
Among the questions are exactly what happens if a classroom’s pool test comes back positive — does everyone in the class have to get tested individually? Do they have to quarantine in the meantime? How effective will the pooled testing be if there are parents who don’t let their children participate?
Graham said if questions can be answered about how different situations will be handled and it can save them from sending kids home unnecessarily, he'd be the first to sign up.
"But until we can get some more details on it, we’re going to wait and see how this plays out," he said.
Calls and emails to a half-dozen school districts in central Pennsylvania — Bald Eagle, St. Marys, Altoona, State College, Williamsport and Moshannon Valley — did not find one that had signed up.
“To test en masse kids across the district with the parents’ permission, you’re looking at a huge logistics nightmare," said Brian Toth, who just retired as superintendent of the St. Marys School District in Elk County. He said the district ran vaccine clinics for staff. They can respond quickly to possible cases. And, like other districts, he said they’ll adjust their plans as needed.
“If this new variant of the disease proves to be a lot more impactful to our educational program than the last one was, sure, we’ll adjust as we need to," he said. "But, right now, we’re pretty good and set to go.”
