The Sweetwater Union High School District launches an asymptomatic testing program to help detect COVID-19 and prevent outbreaks amid the discovery of the Omicron variant within San Diego county.
​​In partnership with Concentric by Ginkgo, the high-volume testing program has grown to include 23 middle and high schools throughout the south bay. The program began in the Summer of 2021 with Concentric, a public health and bio-security initiative at Ginkgo Bio-works.
According to COVID Testing Coordinator for the SUHSD, Hilda Cadena, the district averages about 5,500 tests per week, with 65,000 tests administered in three months.
“Testing has been such a benefit for our communities,” Cadena said. “Through routine testing, we are better equipped to help identify and address outbreaks. Testing has helped us create a more ‘normal’ school experience for our students.”
Teams from Concentric arrive at schools every week to set up logistics for pooled COVID-19 testing and supervise sample collection. A “pool” of up to 25 samples is sent to a local lab by mail, and the results will be returned to schools up to two days later.
Any positive pool result will prompt individual rapid antigen testing for each student to identify any positive COVID cases. According to the district, schools can minimize disruption to classroom time and extracurricular activities with this comprehensive pooled testing program, all while simplifying testing logistics.
“Students are identified in positive pools; we administer the antigen tests, and we identify and support the student who has a positive case,” said Cadena. “Due to pooled testing, we help prevent the spread by addressing it immediately. We believe this has also gained the support of the community to see an immediate response and follow through.”
These pooled testing services were first centralized for after-school extracurricular activities like sports, visual, and performing arts. The SUHSD expanded testing during regular classroom hours after seeing success in the program’s launch.
“We run like a well-oiled machine. Everyone knows their schedules,” says Mary Rose Peralta, Principal at Otay Ranch High School. “Right at 2:30 pm, students and faculty line up to test. In less than 30 minutes, we can test 300-400 students on our campus. Pooled testing has made it easy, quick, and efficient.”
Concentric has provided weekly testing to hundreds and thousands of individuals nationwide. The company offers free testing to schools statewide as contracted by the California Department of Public Health to free district resources for urgent needs.
In designing a single district “Test Champion,” the SUHSD has successfully coordinated testing activities district-wide. The role of a ”Test Champion” is to work with Concentric to alleviate the workload on educators and administrators.
“We greatly appreciate our partnership with the CDPH and Concentric by Ginkgo to provide additional testing measures of this magnitude to the students in our district,” Sweetwater District Superintendent Dr. Moises G. Aguirre said.“As we continue to see changes in COVID variants, we could not risk the safety of our students and staff and feel confident knowing we’ve taken an active approach to testing as an additional layer of protection for our students, staff, and all; of our school communities.”
Members of the public who wish to learn more about this program may visit the district COVID-19 webpage or Concentric.
