 A few weeks ago we introduced to you the COVID-19 Titan Test, a district initiative to expand testing in our City to provide our schools and community with critical information about COVID-19 prevalence and spread. By administering weekly testing, we will be able to react quickly to any positive case, assess our mitigation strategies, and get a true picture of school/community spread to inform our decisions.
Since October 12 we've implemented mandatory COVID testing of our student-athletes in order for them to participate in winter sports. Mercy Health of Lorain has worked with our school health professionals to administer 258 tests so far, with a handful of positive cases identified -- allowing our students, coaches and operations personnel to take the appropriate precautions and prevent further spread.
At the same time, some topics have risen to the top which we want to address right away for you:
- TITAN TESTING PUBLIC INFORMATION SESSION SCHEDULED: Wednesday, November 4th at 9:00AM we will be hosting a virtual public information session to share additional information about this initiative and answer questions from our community. The session will be recorded and shared widely online for those who cannot attend online with us. If you have a question or concern please e-mail us here so that we can ensure it is addressed.
- CONSENT FORM CONFUSION: It was brought to our attention that the printed consent forms provided to student-athletes for Titan Testing were duplicated incorrectly. As a result, demographic information collecting student race was cut off, making it appear as though the initiative was targeting our minority populations. Please know that this could not be further from our intent. The forms have been reprinted correctly for all upcoming testing events.
- PARTNERSHIP CONFUSION: There has been much confusion surrounding our partners in this initiative. Some of this is due to the fact that a local donor has contributed a large sum of money to ensure testing is free to the district and our families. But I think any suspicion is a natural result of our current challenging times. My hope is the information below helps to alleviate some of the concerns brought to my attention, and that our Public Information Session on Wednesday provides further clarity:
- All testing which has occurred so far has been conducted by Mercy Health of Lorain. Testing has only been administered to our student-athletes as a condition of their participation in winter sports. The test being given is the PCR molecular test, administered by nasal swab. This test is typically highly accurate and usually does not need to be repeated. It diagnoses active coronavirus infection. It does not show if you ever had COVID-19 or were infected with the coronavirus in the past.
- When in-person classes resume, our district will be expanding the testing detailed above to include roughly 350 students and 50 staff members each week. Testing randomly select students and staff to best replicate our natural demographics. For instance, if 50% of our students are female, then 50% of participants selected will be female. If 20% of our staff speak Spanish, then 20% of staff participants must be Spanish-speaking. Those who are randomly selected will be notified the week prior to their test. Positive results will be used to help us proactively monitor for spread, and respond swiftly and effectively.
- Once we enter the expanded testing phase described above, families and staff will have the opportunity to opt-in to contribute to a larger research-base on COVID-19 transmission in schools and the effectiveness of school-based mitigation procedures. This portion of the program is being led by Dr. Prakash Ganesh, MD, a Family Medicine Specialist and Assistant Professor in Case Western Reserve University's Department of Family Medicine & Community Health in the School of Medicine.
- Tune in to our Public Information Session on Wednesday for information on this topic, and more.
Thanks,
Jeff |