COVID-19 testing begins at school

SWABS IN THE SILVER HALL

COVID-19 testing center opens inside school

FRONT OFFICE TESTING CENTER SILVER HALLWAY

Time to test — Staff from other schools are provided with signs to direct them to the COVID-19 testing center. The center is open during school hours and must be accessed by walking down the silver hallway. NYLA MARCOTT NEWS EDITOR

Students walking down the silver hallway will notice a string of white signs with directions to a COVID-19 testing center. McLean High School no longer simply provides educational instruction during the school day; it now offers testing for the COVID-19 virus. On Nov. 1, FCPS began requiring unvaccinated staff members to get weekly COVID tests at one of nine locations throughout the county.

McLean High School’s testing site is staffed by LongView International Technology Solutions, Inc. (LTS), a private company contracted to provide antigen and PCR COVID-19 tests. The company uses a conference room in the front office to administer the tests on Tuesdays from 12 to 7 p.m. and Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. FCPS staff members are typically administered antigen tests. If they have been in close contact with an infected person, or if their results come back positive, staff are required to take a PCR test.

“McLean was selected as a testing center location because of our proximity,” Principal Ellen Reilly said. “They tried to centrally put [testing] where people live, so we are probably hitting the Arlington group and people who live that way.”

McLean is currently one of only three schools with testing sites inside the building. The school’s administration was originally led to believe that testing would take

place outside of the building in a tent, but McLean’s campus design made it difficult to establish a drive-through site.

“We didn’t get a drive-through because we have to close the gate on Westmoreland Street, so there isn’t a place that you can loop around,” Reilly said. “We were going to put the testing center back by the outside of student services, but if people pull up there, they can’t circle around, so [LTS] said that they only wanted us to do indoor [testing].”

While teachers do not earn additional pay for time spent being tested outside of work, temporary hourly and contracted nonexempt employees are paid for the time they take during or after their work day to be tested.

“The overall additional time reported... must include travel time, waiting time and time to test,” FCPS policy states. “These activities related to required testing are compensatable.”

Staff members who come to McLean for testing do not check in at the front office. Instead, they are directed to follow signs through the school to the room where the tests are administered.

“We check badges, emails and explain the testing procedure,” said Rita Tennessen, a member of the LTS testing team at McLean.

FCPS employees have had a wide range of reactions to the recent development.

“It takes a lot of courage for people these days to stand up for the rights of people. Somebody like me can express an opinion. Other people have to take the shot or be fired,” said an anonymous FCPS staff

Covid-19 testing at McLean

Students Student Athlete Staff

Lorem IF YOU TEST POSITIVE, YOU HAVE TO COME BACK TO THE SCHOOL TO GET A PCR TEST.” - RITA TENNESSEN MEMBER OF THE LTS TESTING TEAM

member who used the McLean testing center on Nov. 16. “I tell my friends I went to bed one night, and I feel like I woke up in North Korea.”

The location of the testing center within the school building, combined with the open access offered to unvaccinated workers from across FCPS, poses potential dangers for students and staff. The risk for a schoolwide outbreak of COVID-19 is further amplified by overcrowded conditions at McLean.

“I am concerned with McLean’s overcapacity in terms of spreading COVID-19,” said senior Franny Stroik, copresident of McMed, a club focused on health-related professions. “While masks significantly diminish the rate at which COVID-19 can spread, the amount of people in small rooms [and] during passing periods does worry me.”

The testing center can be accessed through the main office, though it is typically reached through the silver hallway. The route to the testing center goes through studentfilled hallways rather than the office, where staff is sparse.

“I wasn’t really concerned about that at all because it’s really 15 minutes with continuous contact with somebody,” Reilly said. “They’re in and out and we don’t come in any contact with them, so [potential exposure] was very minimal if it’s going to happen.”

Staff who are tested in the centers do not immediately receive their test results. If results show that a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, they are asked to return to the school building to receive an additional test.

“If you test positive, you have to come back to the school to get a PCR test, which is sent to a lab,” Tennessen said.

The testing center has to be accessed through a door that also leads to staff bathrooms, which do not have any source of air circulation. On Nov. 16, in a period of 1.5 hours, 11 McLean employees entered the same door used by four staff members arriving to receive testing. The shared door was never sanitized during this time.

“I’m a little concerned about teachers returning to be tested because it is on school property, meaning they could risk infecting others,” said senior Amelia Badipour, copresident of McMed. “I think they should be tested off campus, as there are many other testing locations.”

FCPS plans to continue offering testing to both unvaccinated staff and students (see sidebar) until testing is no longer considered a mitigation strategy. It remains unclear how long testing will be offered and whether staff who remain unvaccinated will eventually be required to continue weekly testing through an independent company.

“I have health issues, and I don’t want to further challenge my needs [with] two different autoimmune diseases,” the anonymous teacher said. “If I were mandated to have to take the shot, I would quit. I’m grateful that I can be treated like an adult, and I still have a choice in terms of making that tough decision for myself.” In addition to testing staff, FCPS began testing unvaccinated students on Nov. 15 in the same conference room where teacher testing is conducted. Unvaccinated students must receive parental approval to be part of the random COVID-19 testing program.

“They’ll randomly select 10% of our population to come down and get screened. So here, that would be about 230 people,” Reilly said. “I don’t know if 230 people are going to opt into it, so if we [end up] having 50 people who opted in, then they would be tested every week.”

Unvaccinated student testing is conducted on Mondays by LTS, the same company who conducts testing for unvaccinated teachers. Students who are exposed to COVID-19 or test positive while at school are moved to a CARE room until they can be picked up by a parent.

“There’s two different rooms, and those are the two rooms that we have as the CARE center,” Reilly said. “It has to be away from the clinic and in an isolated area. [It is] the best that we could do.”

Testing in McLean’s center is currently only for a random sampling of the unvaccinated population and for student athletes who are unvaccinated, regardless of the presence of COVID-19 symptoms. Students who have a close contact with someone who tests positive or who exhibit COVID-19 symptoms can be tested at LTS’s drive-through sites.

“This center [is] a great way to make our student body feel more comfortable around each other while learning,” senior Franny Stroik said.

SOMEBODY LIKE ME CAN EXPRESS AN OPINION. OTHER PEOPLE HAVE TO TAKE THE SHOT OR BE

FIRED.” - ANONYMOUS FCPS STAFF MEMBER

FCPS BEGINS STUDENT TESTING

COVID-19 Testing for Unvaccinated People at McLean

Staff Students Student Athletes

Receive rapid antigen test

Testing offered Tuesdays and Thursdays

Testing is conducted by LTS

Testing is mandatory

Weekly testing 10% of unvaccinated students tested if voluntarily opted in Testing offered Mondays from 12-2:30 p.m.

Testing is conducted by LTS

Receive PCR Tests

Weekly testing

Testing conducted by Aegis Sciences Corporation

Testing on Mondays from 10 -11:30 a.m.

Testing is mandatory

Receive PCR Tests

Weekly testing