Last week, TEA and DSHS announced additional testing options that are available to districts through a $800 million dollar federally funded program. The federal funds may be used to purchase COVID tests, as well as to pay for staff to administer the tests and for mitigation strategies. Five vendors have been approved, and districts are encouraged to choose the options that best meet their needs. Funding allocations are available on the TEA website, and vendors will directly bill DSHS. An additional $221 million in grant funds will be available for PPE, cleaning supplies, and air filtration.
The new testing vendors that have been added to the approved list provide more flexibility for districts to expand beyond diagnostic testing for symptomatic individuals. Now, “surveillance” testing—routine testing of larger groups—gives schools a new tool to screen for positive cases among asymptomatic individuals. To make group screening tests affordable and efficient, a “pooled testing” option has been approved. Pooled testing allows an entire classroom to be tested in less than 15 minutes, minimizing disruption to in-person learning and lowering administrative burden. Using a self administered lower nasal swab, samples from a cohort are combined into a single “pool” (between 5- 25 individuals) for which one result is received. Follow up testing can then be performed on individuals in any positive pools utilizing one of the diagnostic testing options provided.Â
The results of pooled testing can indicate asymptomatic spread so that informed decisions can be made to stop the spread and keep schools open. While often used to test students in a classroom, pooled testing might be used to test other individuals in close settings such as sports teams , members of extracurricular activities, or groups of school staff members. While previously districts have only had the option of testing after symptoms appear, now it’s possible to use routine screening tests for early detection. A CBS Austin report on the testing program noted that “Even without any facemasks COVID testing once a week can reduce total infections by about 78 percent,” says Remy Pasco, Research Assistant with the UT COVID-19 Modeling Consortium.
Renee Kotsopoulos, Director of Health Services for Garland ISD, is taking a “multi-pronged approach” to COVID-19 testing. Garland saw a spike in cases after opening on August 2, but the number of positive cases has started to decline recently. Contact tracing and testing have been essential to keeping their students in school. They have primarily been using rapid antigen testing for symptomatic students and staff as well as those with close contact to a positive case. However, with recent PCR testing facilities in their community booked up, the district is considering offering that alternative as well for qualified individuals. Renee said that they are also considering pooled testing for certain situations, such as a grade level where there has been close contact at a school. Renee commented that “the more you test, the more you can control the spread.” Learn more about Garland ISD’s COVID protocols at their website.
 Weekly asymptomatic testing for COVID-19 has already been in limited use in some Texas school districts, including Somerset ISD in the San Antonio area. According to a recent news report, Superintendent Saul Hinojosa credited their asymptomatic testing protocol for helping the district keep over 80% of their students learning in-person last year. Twenty-five states have also approved the pooled testing option using Concentric by Ginkgo Bioworks, including Arizona, North Carolina, and Mississippi.
 Quest Diagnostics is one of the approved vendors offering both pooled testing from Concentric by Ginkgo Bioworks and individual diagnostic testing. Learn more about this option by using the TEA link to register for the webinar on September 22 at 10 a.m. Register Here
More information is available on the TEA website:
K-12 CVOID-19 Testing Project Webpage
To the Administrator Addressed COVID-19 Testing Availability Reminder
SY 21-22 COVID-19 Testing Program Presentation September 9, 2021