NYC classrooms’ rigorous COVID testing plan reflected in LA schools
Nation's two largest districts gear up for in-person learning
The two largest school districts in the U.S. are rolling out ambitious and costly plans to test students and staff for the coronavirus, bidding to help keep school buildings open amid a rise in infections among the nation’s school-age children.
New York City on Thursday began testing 10 percent to 20 percent of students and staff in every building monthly. Thursday is the day the final wave of the district’s more than 1 million students began returning to brick-and-mortar classrooms for the first time in six months.
“Every single school will have testing. It will be done every single month. It will be rigorous,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in announcing the plan as part of an agreement with the teachers’ union to avert a strike. At least 79 Department of Education employees have died from the coronavirus.