Coronavirus Testing For D-205 Students?

ELMHURST, IL — The Elmhurst school board is expected to decide next week whether to test students and staff for the coronavirus in January and February. Students are set to return to school Jan. 11.

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At Thursday's school board meeting, Superintendent Dave Moyer said the saliva testing would reduce anxiety about the coronavirus among staff.

The second advantage, he said, was it would provide an additional layer of prevention against an outbreak in a school. It would give school-specific data, helping achieve the goal of avoiding another shutdown of all buildings, he said.

But Moyer said such testing is not completely fail-safe. "You don't catch everybody," he said.

He also he could make no guarantee on the return on investment for the two-month program, estimated to cost more than $400,000. He said he was presenting the options for the district at the board's direction.

"I'm not saying this is absolutely the way we need to go," he said.

Board member Chris Kocinski said he would like to see the testing program allow students in the schools full time, rather than continue the blended model of remote and in-person instruction. Remote learning, he said, "is one of the biggest steps backward for equity in decades."

Member Jim Collins agreed, saying the testing should help increase the number of students in class every day.

Member Courtenae Trautmann sounded supportive of testing

"There's no 100 percent foolproof solution," she said. "If there's a tool available to make the staff feel safer and our community protected, I think we should use it."

The school board is expected to vote on coronavirus testing at its meeting Tuesday. The board last discussed testing options in November.