Defender Media Service
The Houston Independent School District recently announced that it has been approved to participate in the COVID-19 Rapid Testing program in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency and Texas Division of Emergency Management.
According to the released by the HISD Press Office, the program will offer COVID-19 Rapid Testing at no cost to students and district employees. The district will be provided with the resources to test campus-based staff and a percentage of students (with permission from parents) to reduce the risk of spread in school communities. The tests will be optional, but all staff who work on a campus will be encouraged to participate in the program.
HISD will begin receiving a monthly allotment of COVID-19 Rapid Tests to cover all campus-based staff and a percentage of the district’s student enrollment as early as next week. HISD campus nurses are currently receiving the necessary training to administer the tests. The district will not charge a fee to take the tests, require participation in the program, or distribute tests for non-school or non-educational use.
