Free COVID Testing Dates Set For Schools Staff, Students And Families

Five days near the end of August have been targeted for free COVID-19 testing for the staff, students and their families in the township’s public and private schools.

The tests – which will be for both the virus and antibodies – will be given in anticipation of schools opening for in-person learning in September.

“We want to test every student; public, private, parochial, charters, whatever,” Mayor Phil Kramer, whose idea it was to provide the testing, said at the Aug. 11 Township Council meeting.

All testing will be done between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Walk-ins are accepted, but registration is preferred.

Testing for all schools’ staff and their families will be held:

• Aug. 20 at the Franklin Township Board of Education Community Campus, 2301 Route 27 (the former Consolata Missionaries property).
• Aug. 21 at Franklin Middle School @ Hamilton Street campus, 415 Francis St.

To register for these dates, click here.

Testing for all schools; students and their families will be held:

• Aug. 23 at Franklin Middle School @ Hamilton Street campus, 415 Francis St.
• Aug. 23 at Franklin Park School, 30 Eden St., Franklin Park.
• Aug. 24 at Franklin Middle School @ Hamilton Street campus, 415 Francis St.
• Aug. 24 at Franklin High School, 500 Elizabeth Ave.
• Aug. 25 at Franklin Middle School @ Hamilton Street campus, 415 Francis St.
• Aug. 25 at Franklin Park School, 30 Eden St., Franklin Park.

To register for these dates, click here.

The tests will be the nasal swabs, but the township is working on getting new cheek swab tests in, Mayor Phil Kramer and Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said at the August 11 Township Council meeting.

Vornlocker said the cheek swabs, which have been approved for emergency use by the FDA, is less invasive than the nasal swab and would be more suitable for younger students.

“They might be more agreeable and cause them less anxiety,” Vornlocker said.

Vornlocker said the lab fees for the cheek swabs are more expensive than the nasal swabs, but those additional costs would be absorbed by the township through Community Development Block Grant money and by Interfaith Urgent Care, the group that brings in the testing companies.

Vornlocker said the township has about $50,000 in CDBG money set aside, but that would not be enough to cover the increased lab fees if 3,000 cheek swab tests were done.

Vornlocker said that Interfaith Urgent Care’s founder, Rabbi Abe Friedman, “said if there’s more than a $50,000 cost, they would absorb” the additional cost, so there would be no cost to the patient.

“We have an opportunity to get a tremendous amount of students tested before they go back to school,” Vornlocker said. “We can do a test that would be much more agreeable, so to speak, for the kids. It’s far less intimidating and there’s less anxiety. I had the nasal swab, and it’s not painful, but it certainly is not comfortable.

The testing is also sponsored by the Franklin Township Interfaith Council and Franklin Township Schools.

For more information, email abcovidtesting@gmail.com.

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