Lower Merion Schools To Test Staff, Students For Coronavirus

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — In an effort to keep students and staff safe, the Lower Merion School District will be testing members of its community for the coronavirus.

According to Superintendent Robert Copeland, the district will take part in a program called Assisting Childhood Education through Increased Testing, aka ACE-IT.

Through ACE-IT, staff and identified students in the district will be regularly tested for coronavirus.

Copeland said in a letter to the community that the program will reduce the risk of disease spread among the district's community members.

"The program will use BinaxNOW tests, which provide results in 15 minutes and are administered using a nasal swab in the front area of the nostril," Copeland said. "This testing can be conducted by trained LMSD staff at each school location.

The district plans to offer weekly assurance testing, and symptomatic testing during the work/school days.

Weekly assurance testing aims to screen all onsite staff and identified students on a weekly basis. Based upon testing volume and program capacity, the district will prioritize programs where social distancing cannot be maintained to the extent recommended, as well as target buildings with higher case incidents and/or outbreaks.

As for symptomatic testing, the district may conduct testing on staff who present symptoms of coronavirus while at school or on district property.

Below is a timeline of the district's plan:

• Dec. 29 to Dec. 30 – Small Sample Testing at District Administrative Office/Lower Merion High School (50 to 60 participants maximum)
• Week of Jan. 4 – Testing becomes available for all Lower Merion School District staff working onsite.
• Week of Jan. 11 – Begin weekly testing for all staff willing to commit to program requirements.
• Week of Jan. 18 – Testing becomes available for identified students in high school and middle school.
• Week of Jan. 25 – Ongoing weekly testing of committed staff plus identified students in high school and middle school
• Week of Feb. 1 – Testing becomes available for identified students K-5
• Week of Feb. 8 – Ongoing weekly testing of committed staff plus identified students K-12

More information on ACE-IT is available here.