On Sept. 27, 2021, Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District Superintendent Peter Smith sent the following letter via SchoolMessenger to J-D families and staff.
Dear Jamesville-DeWitt families and staff,
On Friday, Sept. 24, we completed another round of COVID-19 surveillance testing. Approximately 200 students and staff were tested, and all tests were negative.
Currently, about 18% of our students and staff are enrolled in the free testing program, and we would like to see greater participation across the district. Our goal is to test approximately 10% of each school’s population each week for the foreseeable future.
The sample collection is quick, easy and done by the participants. The samples are tested in a 12-person pool, which allows for greater numbers of students and staff to be quickly tested. The initial pooled test results are known in approximately 24 hours, and if a pool tests positive, Quadrant Biosciences, which is conducting the testing, will use the swabs from the initial testing to perform individual tests, called reflex testing.
Individuals do not need to conduct a second swab for reflex testing, and reflex test results should be available within 12 hours. Since our testing is taking place on Fridays, Quadrant should be reporting results during the weekend and at the latest by Monday if reflex testing is warranted.
Results will be available for you to view by logging into app.Clarifi-COVID-19.com, which is also the same link you should use to register for the testing and to grant consent for a student to be tested. Students and staff will be selected at random each week, and students will only be tested if the student’s parent or guardian completed a consent form online for their student. Each week, we will share directly with families and staff via SchoolMessenger the number of cases found at each building.
It is our understanding that the cost for the surveillance testing in schools is being underwritten by the Onondaga County Health Department using funds from a federal grant. Quadrant Biosciences is collecting insurance information at the time of registration so it can bill insurance if reflex testing is needed. However, there is no cost to staff or parents or guardians for this billing as Quadrant will not send any residual bills to participants or their families. Any cost not covered by insurance will be covered through the county grant.
This testing is an important part of the state’s strategy to limit the spread of COVID-19 within our schools and the community-at-large so I thank you in advance for participating and helping to keep our schools safe. If you have any questions or concerns about the surveillance testing program, please reach out to me or your child’s building principal.
Sincerely,
Peter Smith