VA U.S. House District 7 issued the following announcement on Dec. 31
Ahead of the January 2022 gubernatorial inauguration, U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10), and Elaine Luria (D-VA-02) — all parents of school-aged children — today called on Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin to expand Virginia’s “Test to Stay” COVID-19 testing protocols, which would help ensure schools stay open, prevent additional learning loss, and reduce absenteeism.
The American Rescue Plan provided more than $2.1 billion for Virginia schools through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief program. Additionally, the law allocated approximately $257 million to support Virginia’s COVID-19 testing programs through the Epidemiology and Lab Capacity Reopening Schools program — and the Virginia General Assembly in August 2021 approved an additional $244 million of American Rescue Plan funding to support COVID-19 testing in Virginia schools. This support has provided free COVID-19 testing for dozens of school districts and thousands of students across Virginia.
This month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorsed Test to Stay protocols, which allow students who are exposed to COVID-19 but test negative to remain in school instead of quarantining at home. In a joint letter sent to Youngkin, the Virginia Congresswomen urged the Governor-elect to use federal funding to maintain critical K-12 testing protocols and expand Test to Stay programs, as they have a proven ability to protect the health and safety of Virginia’s students, teachers, administrators, and school staff.
“When used as part of a layered prevention strategy, Test to Stay guidelines can allow students who would otherwise have to quarantine at home to continue in-person learning if they test negative for COVID-19 at least twice during a seven-day period after exposure,” said Spanberger, Wexton, and Luria. “When combined with other prevention strategies such as promoting vaccinations, consistent use of masks indoors, social distancing, and staying home when sick, Test to Stay practices can be a vital tool to ensure schools safely remain open.
Their letter continued, “We urge you to keep policies in place that allow schools to use American Rescue Plan funding to promote known prevention and mitigation strategies, as well as develop a strategy to expand Test to Stay programs to schools across the Commonwealth. We hope your administration will prioritize federal funding to expand this program, so it is available for all schools that wish to participate.”
Click here to read the letter
Original source can be found here.
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