BUFFALO, N.Y. — Many school districts that fall within Erie County’s yellow cluster are now forced to navigate the logistical issues of doing mandatory testing.
But getting the tests appears to be the first hurdle.
"This is a very tall order and I'm not quite sure we can accomplish it," said Sabatino Cimato, the Ken-Ton superintendent.
He's doubtful the district will be able to reach the 20 percent COVID testing mandate for students and staff participating in in-person learning.
"Our nurses can be licensed to do this. We would still have to train all of our nurses, and then we have a limited supply of nurses for our schools in order to provide 860 tests per week," he said.
Other districts now are inundated with questions on how to run a testing program.
"There's a lot of logistics and a lot of planning that goes into, how does a school district partner with an entity like the department of health to facilitate a testing plan?" said Brian Graham, the superintendent of Grand Island schools.
According to a spokesperson with the Erie County Health Department, the state will provide rapid nasal swab tests to schools, but we're still awaiting a timeframe from the state on when those tests will arrive.
Apart from actually getting COVID tests, there are other issues for schools, such as scheduling tests, finding out where they will be done, and getting parental consent. Ken-Ton is asking parents to complete a survey to learn whether they would allow their kids to get a COVID test.
The deadline is Wednesday.
Families that don't allow their kids to be tested will have to do virtual learning.
The Ken-Ton superintendent has concerns about that too.
"We don't have the capacity and the staffing alone to be able to grow our virtual learning at the academy at the elementary level," Cimato said.
Cost is also a factor. The Ken-Ton superintendent estimates it could cost $10,000 per week to do the testing, but it's unclear how all that would be covered.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wednesday was asked about providing COVID tests to schools in Syracuse. He said the state would provide whatever is required, but Erie County was not mentioned.
North Tonawanda, which is not in the yellow cluster, is asking parents to plan ahead, prepare for virtual learning, and have plans for child care.
Frontier Schools says it is moving to fully remote learning starting Thursday, because of the growing number of students and district employees who are in quarantine.
Eden Schools, which are not in the yellow cluster, want to hear from parents through a survey on whether they would allow their kids to be tested, if Eden is put in the yellow cluster.
