Maryland Department of Health

COVID-19 Fall Testing Program Planning Questionnaire

for Schools/ School Districts

Table of Contents

Introduction	1

Section 1: Who is your testing team?	3

Section 2: Who will you test?	4

Section 3: How will you test?	5

Section 4: When and where will you test?	6

Section 5: How will you communicate?	6

Section 6: How will you report results and conduct contact tracing?	7

Introduction

The goal of this document is to assist public and non-public schools in the State of Maryland with their planning of COVID-19 testing needs for the 2021-2022 school year. Schools and local stakeholders, if applicable, can work together to begin answering the questions and developing their testing strategy.

This document is only meant for your planning purposes, and does not need to be submitted to MDH or MSDE.

As a reminder, the timeline for the fall COVID-19 screening program is as follows:

Date	Activity
June 24th	Webinar #2, start of school planning
July 16th	Testing vendor selection finalized (MDH)
July 19-23	Vendor onboarding (MDH)
July 26-30	Vendor fair and school’s selection process
August 2-13	Schools select vendors and vendor assessments
August 9-Start of School year	Finalize testing plans and planning for fall testing for those who would like to begin testing at the start of the school year
Start of school year +	Initiate and operate testing programs, continue onboarding schools as needed

These dates will vary depending on the school and school system testing timelines. Schools and school systems that do not want to start testing at the beginning of the school year will still be able to opt-in to the program at a later date.

Schools and school systems are encouraged to utilize any and all resources available to guide them in their decision making and planning efforts. The Rockefeller Foundation has compiled a list of resources to assist in these efforts. Some examples include:

General reopening resources

Testing for America K-12 Playbook

Shield K-12 Testing Playbook

Day-in-the-life: Simulation tools for setting up testing programs; grounded in every-day realities of schools and designed to help you plan reopening

CDC’s K–12 Schools COVID-19 Prevention Toolkit includes resources, tools, and checklists to help school administrators and school officials prepare schools to open for and manage in-person instruction

Communication campaign examples

Example videos of testing in action in K-12 schools

Other resources

Mathematica Agent Based Modeling tool to explore the benefits and drawbacks of various routine testing strategies

When to Test is a modeling tool that demonstrates how using masks, implementing contact tracing, limiting unmasked group activities, and testing can minimize the spread of COVID-19.

You can access the consolidated list of resources here.

For any additional questions, please contact mdh.k12testing@maryland.gov.

Section 1: Who is your testing team?

From the Local Department of Health: Who will serve as a point of contact to the school system?

From the Local School System or School:

Who will be the school/local school system coordinator? This person will lead the school/school system team and interact with MDH and testing vendor points of contact. This may be an administrator, school health services coordinator or school nurse, or other designated safety lead, given the role in health and safety for the school/school system. Depending on this person’s capacity, the school /school system should consider identifying a deputy coordinator to support.

Who will lead logistics? This includes coordinating with schools and contractors to finalize testing times and locations and to make sure all materials are transported to the right place and appropriately set up in time.

Who will lead communications? This includes encouraging comfort among faculty, students, parents, and guardians. The team member is also responsible for working with the vendor to collect consents.

What additional administrative support will be needed? Based on your anticipated testing volume, identify the number of additional non-clinical personnel that will be needed to support your screening program. These individuals will be contracted by MDH to provide additional support to schools and local school systems. MDH will do its best to match administrative staff to school staffing needs.

Open and Safe Schools provides an additional guide on identifying your testing team.

Once your team is identified, fill in the below table.

Name	Title	Email	Phone

From Schools: Once you have identified the schools you are including, who will be the point of contact between each school and the school system?

School	Name	Title	Email	Phone
Section 2: Who will you test?

For school systems, which schools would you like to be included? You can begin with all schools at once, or start with a smaller set of schools and expand over time.

Which grades will be included in the testing program? Will this also include teachers and staff?

For each included school, how many students, teachers, and staff are included?

Given these questions, what is the testing goal (number of individuals tested) for each school? This number tends to start lower, and gradually increase as the community grows comfortable with testing.

As you identify schools, fill in the table below to assist with planning with your selected testing vendor. Please feel free to add new rows and columns as is helpful for you, and to transfer to a spreadsheet if easier.

School Name	Grades Included	# of Students Tested	# of Teachers and Staff	Testing Goal - What % of students and staff do you hope to test?
Section 3: How will you test?

When will you begin testing? MDH is prepared to begin testing as close to the start of the school year as possible; however, you may decide to begin testing at a later date.

How often will you test? Your school/school system’s cadence should be determined in coordination with State and Local Health and Education Departments. Schools should determine the most appropriate testing strategy based on factors such as school context and anticipated level of community transmission over time. CDC also provides an overview of Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools, including the table below for screening testing. When to Test can also assist in determining school testing levels.

How will samples be collected? Depending on the testing vendor, contractors can directly collect samples or can observe student self-collection. Additional detail on specimen collection methods can be found on the Open and Safe Schools website.

Section 4: When and where will you test?

Where will the testing collection occur? This can be done in a centralized location (gym, cafeteria) or decentralized location (classrooms).

Which day(s) of the week will each school test? The testing vendor will work with you to finalize the testing schedule and provide necessary staff to minimize disruption to the students and in the school. A template is provided to help develop an initial testing schedule.

If onsite testing, how will testing fit into school day schedules? What time of day would be least disruptive for learning and easier in terms of logistics? This may vary by grade(s) (e.g., elementary, middle, and high school).

For each school, where should the testing vendor staff check-in upon arrival?

Section 5: How will you communicate?

How does your school/school system plan to inform individual schools of the testing program? Open and Safe Schools provides an overview of necessary communications, a template communications plan, and several examples.

What communications will school systems and schools send to inform teachers and staff, parents and guardians, and students about the testing program? Helpful resources can be found at Open and Safe Schools. MDH is also working on a communications toolkit for schools/school systems to customize to their specific needs.

How will schools collect consents?

Schools can develop their own forms to share with faculty, staff, students, parents, and guardians. The school is responsible for completing a registration file for the testing vendor, with information on everyone with consent to be tested. Examples are here. MDH is also developing packaged communications templates.

Testing vendors will also have a registration platform. Schools can share the link with the community for individual signups, and the information will automatically be shared with the testing vendor.

Section 6: How will you report results and conduct contact tracing?

Who will receive test results in the school system and at each school? At each school, this is often the same point of contact who reviews school registrations with the testing vendor.

How will contact tracing be supported in the school system and in individual schools? Schools/school systems should discuss this plan with State and Local Health and Education Department points of contact.

What are the guidelines for positive cases and close contacts? Schools/school systems and health departments should refer to MDH and CDC guidance to determine isolation and quarantine guidelines for positive cases and close contact. Related guidance can be found on the CDC website: Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools through Phased Prevention | CDC and Resources for Schools and Child Care on the Maryland Department of Health’s COVID-19 website.

What is the plan for communicating positive test results to teachers, staff, and parents? The testing vendor will provide school systems or schools with a report of positive results as they come in, and can notify parents as well. Open and Safe Schools provides some communications guidance, including key messages and example templates.

1

Shiv Gaikwad

2021-06-28

Maryland Department of Health