D.C. Public Schools Requiring Students, Staff to Have Negative COVID Tests to Return From Spring Break

The Washington D.C. Public School District requires students and staff to submit a negative COVID test to return from spring break.

It’s been three years. It’s also the fourth time this year that DCPS has required a negative test.

The schools handed out the tests before school was let out for spring break.

Staff and students must upload a negative result online. If positive, they must alert the school and “quarantine for a minimum of 10 days.”

Look at these numbers:

According to DCPS data, the week before students left for Spring Break there were only nine positive COVID cases across all elementary, middle, and high schools.During the first two weeks of April, there were 25 positive cases reported. Barnard Elementary and Bancroft Elementary had the highest positive rates during the month with both schools reporting three positive cases between April 3 – April 14.Those numbers reflect a steep decline in positive cases in comparison to the data recorded in 2022. Last year, the two weeks prior to students leaving for Spring Break there were a total of 102 positive tests reported as the Omicron variant led to a surge in cases across the country.

DCPS claims it follows CDC guidelines.

But the CDC doesn’t require or recommend COVID screening at schools. Schools can implement testing after “high-risk” activities like school breaks.

But hardly anyone had it after winter break:

School records show that when students took the tests before returning from Winter Break in early January, less than 1% of the 31,882 who submit their status tested positive. And less than 2% of the 6,133 DCPS staff members who sent in their results tested positive.

Insanity. Let it go.

Tags: District of Columbia, Education, Wuhan Coronavirus

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