JCPS offering fewer COVID-19 testing options without federal, grant funding

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools will administer fewer COVID-19 tests when classes begin for the 2022-23 school year in August.

The Jefferson County Board of Education unanimously approved the district’s COVID-19 mitigation strategy for the upcoming school year during a meeting Tuesday.

JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio said the loss of federal and grant funding in June means the district will have fewer drive-thru testing locations for those who are asymptomatic. JCPS schools will continue to test students and staff who exhibit symptoms or are exposed to positive cases, he said.

"We just can't do it in huge numbers like we've done over the past year," Pollio said during Tuesday’s meeting.

JCPS will continue notifying families and staff of positive COVID-19 cases at district schools and facilities and providing coronavirus data online, but "it will be slightly more challenging because we won't have the massive amount of asymptomatic testing," he said.

The district will provide at-home tests for students and staffers who request them and continue its test-to-stay program for those exposed to positive COVID-19 cases who remain asymptomatic, Pollio said.

But JCPS will suspend its test-to-play program for fall sports because the district does "not have the capacity for the amount of asymptomatic tests" needed for student-athletes, though that decision may be reconsidered for winter sports, he said.

Indoor masking will remain optional at JCPS unless metrics developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which account for COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, identify Jefferson County as a county with high coronavirus community levels. Jefferson County is current at a medium level, according to the latest CDC map updated Friday.

JCPS will allow those who test positive for COVID-19 to return to schools after five days in quarantine if their symptoms clear or improve and they wear a well-fitting mask for another five days. Vaccinated students and staff will not need to quarantine if they are exposed and asymptomatic, and unvaccinated people will be offered test-to-stay participation to avoid quarantine and remain in school, Pollio said.

"We do recommend 10 days of masking and testing for asymptomatic people exposed to COVID-19," he said.

The board’s approval of the COVID-19 mitigation step comes as cases and hospitalizations across the U.S. rise with the emergence of a new coronavirus subvariant.

"The prediction is that the fall is going to be pretty intense with COVID," said JCPS Health Services Manager Eva Stone.