Mandy Cohen said she recognizes that schools have undertaken the immense effort of reducing the spread of COVID-19. The remaining 600 should begin by the end of November, she said.ĭHHS Secretary Dr. Kansagra said about 1,000 schools had testing programs in place earlier this month, either through a vendor service or by using testing kits from DHHS. Schools can use the funds to hire nursing staff for up to one year to help catch up on routine vision and hearing screenings that they may have skipped in 2020, when many students were learning virtually. Kansagra said the program funds two major expenses - providing schools with much-needed health staff during the pandemic and giving schools access to COVID-19 testing supplies and a vendor to process tests. Surveillance testing refers to proactive testing of asymptomatic individuals, in contrast to diagnostic testing in which a person receives a test for COVID-19 after showing symptoms or experiencing a possible exposure to someone who has tested positive. Ultimately, she said, surveillance testing will help keep students in school by catching COVID-19 cases early and preventing spread. “The goal of this program is to make it really free, easy and convenient for parents to get their children tested by making it available in school,” said Susan Kansagra, the acting senior deputy director for the N.C. Even with significant funding for nursing staff, schools face barriers to hiring health professionals during a labor shortage. In others, starting testing sites and hiring more nurses is taking longer.Ībout 600 schools that registered for testing do not have programs operating, though many plan to start within weeks. In some school districts, those promises have become a reality. The funds must be used by the end of June. Department of Health and Human Services reported less than half of the funds had been either spent or obligated to schools for reimbursements. To entice schools to sign up for COVID-19 testing, the program offers school districts the promise of federal funding to hire more nursing staff, which for many schools was a long-standing need even before the pandemic.Īt the beginning of November, the N.C. State health officials have touted the testing program as a powerful tool for reducing the spread of COVID-19 in schools. North Carolina’s share of the money for testing is so large that it’s comparable to the total federal COVID-19 relief funds allocated for schools in the new state budget for everything from tutoring to technology updates. The funding comes from a $10 billion pool of money that Congress appropriated in January under the American Rescue Plan specifically for COVID-19 testing at schools. Visit megaphone.North Carolina schools have $316 million in federal funding to spend by June to conduct preventive COVID-19 testing this school year, but many schools’ testing programs are just getting started. įollow Private Investigations For the MissingĬheck out the new Crawlspace Discussion Facebook group: Sign up today at /MISSING to get two, 10 oz New York strip steaks and 8 oz of lobster claw and knuckle meat FREE in your first order. Get $120 off your first three boxes at /MISSING. Go to and use promo code MISSING to save an additional 15% off your first order. TikTok: Val's brother Xan on TikTok: articles: In this episode Crawlspace Media's Tim Pilleri and Lance Reenstierna speak with investigative reporter Michael Praats from WECT in Wilmington, NC about the tragic death of Val D’Auvray.Ĭheck out our Missing subscription service where we have a bonus show and ad-free episodes! Ĭheck out our Crawlspace subscription service where we have a bonus show and ad-free episodes! Ĭome see us on tour with Patrick Hinds and Maggie Freleng!
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