Lennox School District Supt. Scott Price has dealt with academic programs, union negotiations and budget deficits. But nothing has prepared him or other education leaders to make decisions about a pressing medical issue: How to or even whether to provide school-based coronavirus testing to students, teachers and other staff.
Many experts view regular, universal testing at schools as a crucial component to helping campuses reopen and remain open, while also contributing toward curbing the raging pandemic. Yet California does not require school-based testing and no one has offered to pay for it. So, Price is going to take a pass with some misgivings and try to keep his staff and 5,000 students safe through other means when they are able to return to campus.
All in-person instruction and childcare programs for students within the Los Angeles Unified School District have been suspended as the region continues to see a rise in COVID-19 cases, Superintendent Austin Beutner announced Monday. We re not just an academic institution - obviously. We want to be sure that we re being part of the solution, said Larry Boone, principal of Dalzell Lance High School.
This week, their efforts appear to be paying off with an impressive 400 of 500 appointments made on Monday. Varisel Aposta came because she has a family member that tested positive. If we don t know that we have a positive, then it keeps going and going you know, said Aposta, who s glad it s being offered here.
COVID pandemic: LA charter school group hopes to break stigma, get Westlake community tested
Replay Video UP NEXT
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy has been offering free COVID-19 testing at Dalzell Lance High School since October, but it s taken some time to get people in the MacArthur Park and Westlake communities to actually show up. They re scared to get tested, they re embarrassed to get tested, said Adriana Abich, the Camino Nuevo s CEO.
Because of this, the charter school group has ramped up its efforts to reverse the stigma and therefore reduce the spread, especially now that numbers are up. By us hosting this, we re making it normal, we re making it a positive place where parents and families know that they can get support from us, said Abich.