Henrico Schools to test winter student athletes for COVID-19 weekly

Weekly COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic student athletes will be a requirement for all unvaccinated Henrico County Public Schools athletes who participate in winter sports.

Vaccinated students are able to opt out, but many will likely choose to be tested, said HCPS Chief of Staff Beth Teigen at Thursday’s Henrico School Board work session.

The school division is focusing this effort on winter sports because they are being held indoors and largely involve close contact, Teigen said. High school winter sports begin Nov. 8, and the middle school season begins a week later. The testing requirement extends to coaches of HCPS winter sports teams as well.

The testing will be administered through the Virginia School Screening Testing for Assurance program, which is a joint effort between the CDC, Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Department of Education. Through a CDC grant, the state health and education departments will provide schools with testing vendors and supplies.

HCPS officials are considering expanding this component of the ViSSTA program to other extracurricular activities.

The testing requirements will be publicized, so those interested in winter athletics will know about the screening requirements before tryouts, said Superintendent Amy Cashwell.

At-home test kits

Another aspect of the ViSSTA program — at-home COVID-19 test kits — will be available in schools no later than Wednesday, according to Teigen.

The school division has received its initial shipment of 2,500 at-home COVID-19 testing kits, and more have been ordered. Each school will receive an initial supply of 18 tests to be kept in the clinic for school nurses to send home with students and staff. The remainder of the tests will be kept in the warehouse ready to send out to schools when they need more.

The BinaxNOW Ag Card Home test kits are antigen tests that use a nasal swab for sample collection and can return test results in about 15 minutes. The Virginia Department of Health is contracting with eMed to provide the tests, which are authorized by the FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization.

This program aims to reduce the amount of time students are out of school due to quarantine as a result of exhibiting symptoms or being exposed to someone infected with COVID-19.

Unvaccinated students or staff who had close contact with an infected person can return to school eight days after exposure if the person tests negative five days or more after the exposure. Otherwise, the exposed person must stay home for at least 10 days.

"I have heard from a number of families... that it's very hard to even get an appointment (for COVID-19 testing) right now," said board member Micky Ogburn. "So this is... breaking the dam, so to speak, of that testing and getting the kids back into school as quickly as possible."

The kits come sealed and must be opened in the presence of a person on the other end of a virtual video call that is set up for each test. This person also provides directions on how to administer the test. Results can be read in 15 minutes. The support is available in English and Spanish, and HCPS has requested support in other languages.

Teacher vaccination status

All HCPS staff members soon will be asked their vaccination status in an effort to streamline the contact tracing process. This new step would proactively gather vaccination information and hopefully speed up the process.

Staff will be asked to provide their status in Oracle, the school division’s online software program. While teachers are being asked if they are inoculated against COVID-19, they are not required to answer. Those who are vaccinated will upload proof into the system.

Vaccinated people generally do not have to quarantine, but they are always informed if they are exposed, according to Teigen.

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Anna Bryson is the Henrico Citizen's education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar.