Dorchester School District 2 begins Test to Stay protocols

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCBD)- Dorchester School District Two (DD2) is beginning new COVID-19 quarantine protocols on Monday.

DD2’s use of the Test to Stay plan will give students and staff who have been exposed to COVID-19 the option to stay in class if they follow a few guidelines and remain symptom-free.

Students and staff who have been exposed to the virus may remain in person if they wear a mask for ten days and have a negative COVID-19 test result from day five to day seven after exposure.

“We feel that the Test to Stay program allows students and staff to remain in school and allows them to get that core instructional time,” said Dr. Amanda Santamaria, DD2’s Director of Nursing. “We are able to monitor individuals, enforce masking and ensure that while they are at school under quarantine they are doing it safely.”

The goal of Test to Stay is to bring students back into class face to face. The Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is in charge of the guidelines for the protocols.

Anyone who cannot wear a mask will not be allowed in the classroom. Students and staff who do not get a test must remain home until 11 days after exposure.

“We took the month of January to evaluate our options and look at our disease activity transmission levels in our schools as well as our community to determine next steps for quarantine for students and staff,” said Dr. Santamaria.

Students and staff will be tested through options given to the district by DHEC and include different types of tests. DHEC will allow at-home tests with an at-home test filled out by a parent for students to return to class.

“Parents can choose to take their child to their own testing provider and submit those results to us to be cleared. We do have a district testing site that is a partnership with DHEC through state grant funding and we house that on one of our campuses. Those are rapid and PCR tests,” said Dr. Santamaria.

DD2 says that parents have reacted well to the change, but there are other options for parents who do not like the Test to Stay plan.

“If a parent whose child is quarantined does not want them to mask they always have the option to quarantine at home where we provide them with instruction virtually and assignments from home,” said Dr. Santamaria.

If a parent does not want their child to be tested then there is another option to fulfill the quarantine.

“They can attend school for those first seven days and then during days eight through ten they’ll remain home with virtual instruction,” said Dr. Santamaria.