
This study finds that access to guidance and financial resources, community engagement, partnerships with public health, and data management and reporting tools are essential for effective school testing strategies.
- School Profiles

This article documents how school districts have been using COVID-19 testing to detect infections early and reduce disruptions to learning. Strategies include regular, widespread COVID-19 testing; providing home testing kits to families for children to take before returning after the holiday break; and test-to-stay practices to keep exposed staff and students in school if they test negative for the virus. The article also discusses how some districts have been able to provide continuous instruction during widescale quarantines and the importance of planning for hybrid learning models.
- Tools & School Guidance

The Learning Network helps school and district leaders start or strengthen school COVID-19 testing and vaccination programs. Their website includes key takeaways, video clips, and resources from a series of webinars about running a school COVID-19 testing program. The website also includes an FAQ on using ESSER funding for testing and vaccination at K-12 public schools.
- Tools & School Guidance

According to a study of more than 700 people who visited a walk-up testing site in San Francisco, the widely used at-home, nasal-swab COVID-19 test can detect most people who are infected with the new Omicron variant and are carrying high levels of the virus.
- Research

This press release describes findings from a rapid testing program conducted across more than 200 California schools. The study found that 90% of surveyed parents felt more confident about the safety of in-person learning when schools had a rapid COVID-19 testing program in place.
- Research

This brief describes test-to-stay strategies implemented in North Carolina, Illinois, and Massachusetts and provides practical guidance on implementing these programs as part of a layered COVID-19 mitigation approach in k-12 schools. Preliminary evidence collected during the Delta wave shows test-to-stay can increase in-person attendance, minimize school-related disruption, increase access to testing, and address concerns regarding safety with in-person instruction.
- School Profiles

This document explains how school districts may use ARPA funds to incentivize participation in school-based COVID-19 screening testing to promptly identify cases, which will help reduce transmission within schools and reduce the risk of interruptions to in-person education.
- Tools & School Guidance

This resource explains why regular testing, in addition to vaccinations, is an effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and help keep schools open. It also introduces Test to Stay, which combines contact tracing and serial testing to allow individuals exposed to COVID-19 to remain in school if they do not test positive, even if they are not fully vaccinated.
- Tools & School Guidance

Residents in the U.S. can order another 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests from the government at COVIDtests.gov, to be shipped to their homes. Households that did not order tests during the first round can receive 8 test kits.
- News

This guidance, which recommends universal masking for fall 2021, includes information on physical distancing, facial coverings and personal protective equipment, symptom screening, COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, quarantining, cleaning and disinfection, ventilation, and sports.
- Tools & School Guidance

With roughly 7.2 million students and staff heading into and returning from spring break, California has distributed more than 14.3 million COVID-19 at-home tests to schools for students and staff to help minimize the spread of COVID-19.
- News

This PDF provides a series of decision trees in use by San Diego County for their symptom screening and quarantine protocols that can be used as a model for other districts as well. It also lists appropriate test types and requirements to return to school.
- Tools & School Guidance

This study concludes that a rapid-testing program (Test to Play + Test to Stay) in Utah high schools helped to keep schools open and allowed extracurricular activities to continue, resulting in over 100,000 instructional days saved across the state.
- Research

This press release describes initial findings from a rapid on-site COVID-19 testing pilot program. Out of 3,256 tests conducted across 8 districts, only 7 tests (0.21%) came back positive.
- News

This article from LPI's President and CEO shares data, the latest science, and examples of how to protect students, educators, and others in schools to ensure a safe return to in-person learning—a critical goal after the disruption to learning since the pandemic hit the United States.
- News

This website contains information on the four funding streams through which the federal government is supporting COVID-19 testing in schools.
- Tools & School Guidance

The Biden administration launched this website to enable better access to vaccines, tests, treatments, masks, as well as the latest updates on COVID-19. The website includes a Test-to-Treat locator that can help people access pharmacies and community health centers to get tested and receive appropriate treatments.
- Tools & School Guidance

Beginning January 15, private health insurers will be required to cover up to 8 home COVID-19 tests per month for people on their plans. The Biden administration is incentivizing insurers to cover the tests up-front and will also launch a website later in January to begin making 500 million at-home COVID-19 tests available via mail.
- News

This profile of an Illinois school district explains how the district implemented regular weekly testing during the 2021–22 school year. It emphasizes that $11 billion has been allocated by the federal government to make regular testing accessible.
- School Profiles

This article describes the renewal for the 2022-23 school year of a free, statewide COVID-19 screening testing program available to all Illinois school districts outside Chicago. The article explains the importance of continuing to test in order to ensure COVID-safer school environments.
- News

This study of 335 schools in 6 states found that pooled PCR (nose swab) routine testing reduced in-school transmission as long as schools had considerable support, including detailed operational guidance, resources, and community buy-in.
- Research

This slide deck explains minimum standards of program success for regular testing in schools. It describes successful examples from across the country and includes student and staff perspectives as well as lessons learned.
- School Profiles

This research brief summarizes successful mitigation strategies across five California school districts during fall 2021. Strategies include universal testing, test-to-stay quarantine policies, and school-based vaccination clinics.
- School Profiles

This website consolidates existing guidance; provides resources on funding, mitigation, and transparency; and explains the science behind the state’s reopening plan.
- Tools & School Guidance

This webpage includes links to several documents in both English and Spanish to support school staff, including decision trees and flyers that explain contact tracing procedures.
- Tools & School Guidance

Through this website, schools districts can apply to the California K-12 School Rapid Antigen Testing Program, which provides free testing supplies, training, and software to schools to support COVID-19 testing.
- Tools & School Guidance

This website, divided into separate pages for organizations, schools, and individuals, provides an overview of resources offered by the state of California to support testing sites.
- Tools & School Guidance

California encourages parents to test their children for COVID-19 as they return to school from break and to share the test results with their local health department. This website contains resources for parents, including a fact sheet with steps they should follow to conduct at-home COVID-19 testing as well as social media images and messages in English and Spanish for districts and schools to share.
- Tools & School Guidance

This webpage contains tools, templates, and step-by-step information on how to set up a school COVID-19 testing program in schools. It includes guidance on identifying testing teams, getting consent, setting up software, setting a testing schedule, and conducting contact tracing.
- Tools & School Guidance