COVID-19 Testing in the Schools

Since early January, COVID-19 testing has been part of Cascade School District’s (CSD) thorough efforts toward health safety in the school buildings. This testing of asymptomatic volunteers began with staff in early January and extended to high school student volunteers in late January.

CSD was one of thirteen school districts in a pilot program run and funded by the Washington State Department of Health. Other districts utilized this program post symptoms or exposure. CSD was one of the very first districts to perform systematic asymptomatic testing.

Kesha Smith and Shelly Zehm, both CSD school nurses, have run the testing. Those over sixteen can self-administer the nasal swabs, while the nurses administer the swabs for the younger high school student volunteers.

“We have about eighty staff and thirty students participating per week. Numbers have been going up each week for student participation,” said Smith. Each volunteer gets tested once per week.

Smith went on to explain the test procedure. “We register the students, and then they come into the wrestling room to be swabbed. The swab is placed in a vial that is placed in a bag and then into a box and finally into the shipping bag. No refrigeration required, but the swabs must be mailed out the same day as collection.”

Everlywell, the maker of the swabs, also performs the lab work to get the results. “Tracey, Shelly and I have access to see all the test results,” said Smith. “The results also go to the health department.”

Superintendent Tracey Beckendorf-Edou explained the benefits of this testing. “If anyone tests positive, then they can quarantine and avoid spreading the illness to students and staff, and the regular testing helps inform incidence rate reporting in the Upper Valley and in Chelan County,” she said. “Because our population is low in the area, when people are only participating in COVID testing when they are symptomatic, it can give an impression that there is more community spread than may actually be the case.”

Since the beginning of this program, 829 tests have been performed. None have been positive. Thus, this leads to a better understanding that the school environment, on the whole right now, is not a site of virus transmission.

Recently, Governor Inslee announced another 48 school districts have volunteered to participate in the free COVID-19 testing. Inslee said at a press conference about the matter, “It’s a way to help build confidence.”

CSD follows a different protocol for testing of students or staff who display one or more the COVID-19 symptoms or have a known exposure. In those cases, Smith and Zehm collaborate with the Cascade Medical lab for rapid testing. CSD and Cascade Medical have been partnering in this way for as long as rapid testing has been available.