Springdale School District prompts state 'Test to Stay' pilot program
Arkansas students will no longer be required to quarantine if they test negative and agree to wear face masks after being in close contact to COVID-19.
Arkansas students will no longer be required to quarantine if they test negative and agree to wear face masks after being in close contact to COVID-19.
Arkansas students will no longer be required to quarantine if they test negative and agree to wear face masks after being in close contact to COVID-19.
Arkansas school students and staff members will no longer be required to quarantine if they test negative and agree to wear face masks after being in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, according to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
With a combined total of nearly 23,000 students and staff, the Springdale School District is the largest in the state. The district was the first to prompt the governor to modify current quarantine guidelines.
In order to reduce the number of students quarantined and to ease the burden on local school boards in regards to enacting mask mandates, a letter sent to Hutchinson, dated Sept. 9, superintendent Jared Cleveland asked for the current guidelines to be modified.
"Obviously we want everybody to be healthy and safe, but we also want our kids in school. The quarantine rules, in a large measure, are sending healthy kids home," said Trent Jones, communication director for the school district.
According to Jones, from the start of the school year to Sept. 9, 785 Springdale school students and staff have been quarantined due to close contact while only six people actually tested positive for COVID-19.
On Tuesday, Hutchinson announced updated quarantine guidelines for Arkansas schools including what's called "Test to Stay," which allows those deemed to have been in close contact with someone who's COVID-19 positive to remain in school, provided the person tests negative and agrees to wear a face mask.
To help with testing, Hutchinson announced the Arkansas Department of Health will assist schools by providing COVID-19 rapid test kits on a first-come, first-serve basis to interested school districts. Hutchinson said ADH currently has approximately 100,000 kits and is in the process of acquiring more.
Jones told 40/29 News rapid testing is currently available at each of the four school-based health centers in Springdale and said being able to offer rapid testing at every school will help keep more students and staff out of quarantine and inside classrooms.
"We're very thankful for the opportunity to be in a leadership role that could potentially help impact our entire community in this entire beautiful state," he said.