Four local schools open COVID-19 testing sites for students, employees

Students and teachers at some local schools can now get tested for COVID-19 on campus. 

On Sept. 27, the Santa Maria-Bonita School District opened new testing sites at four of its schools. The sites—located at Liberty Elementary School, El Camino Junior High School, Fesler Junior High School, and Tommie Kunst Junior High School—are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Testing is free, but exclusive to students and school employees at each school. 

click to enlarge Four local schools open COVID-19 testing sites for students, employees
PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN HOPKINS
CAMPUS CONVENIENCE: Liberty Elementary School is one of four schools in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District that now offers free COVID-19 testing on campus to both students and school employees.

The new sites were initiated as part of a collaboration between the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, Pipeline Medical, and Heal 360, in order to make COVID-19 testing more convenient and readily available for students and school personnel. So far, the school district is just one of four districts in the state utilizing the program, which was launched on Sept. 21. 

Ryan Hopkins, Pipeline Medical’s business development manager, said the company is working to offer free COVID-19 testing to as many California school districts as possible, at no charge to the individuals being tested or to the school district.

“We encourage each district to reach out to us if interested and hope Santa Maria is just the first of many in the area,” said Hopkins, a former Santa Maria resident. “We offer no-cost COVID-19 solutions to every district on the Central Coast.”

Pipeline Medical also has contracts with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, Tracy Unified School District, and Evergreen School District. In addition to PCR testing for COVID-19, each of the program’s sites offer additional types of testing to benefit students and faculty, including “flu and strep testing for the upcoming flu season,” Hopkins said.

Rapid testing for COVID-19 is also offered as part of the program, in which test results can be determined in less than an hour, and no appointments are required. This option can help students and employees miss as little in-person instruction as possible, as many schools would otherwise require them to leave campus and test elsewhere. 

“Our program is customized to each district’s unique circumstances and requirements,” Hopkins said.

One of the Santa Maria-Bonita’s in-person safety protocols requires students and staff members that exhibit any symptoms of COVID-19 to test negative for the virus or get a doctor’s note saying the symptoms were caused by something else before returning to school. 

Regardless of showing symptoms or not, all school employees in the district who are not fully vaccinated will be required to take a COVID-19 test at least once a week, in compliance with a new state public health order, starting on Oct. 15.

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