The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
In the wake of steadily rising numbers of students and staff testing positive for the coronavirus, the township school district is offering a free weekly Covid-19 testing program to students.
Students who wish to participate must register by January 10, according to a January 6 letter to parents from schools Superintendent John Ravally.
The latest accounting of staff and students who have tested positive for the virus, as of January 3, shows there are a total of 418 cases: 251 students, 160 staff members and seven vendors. That number increased by 29 from just the day before.
Township schools are currently on their remote learning plan, which is scheduled to remain in effect until at least January 18.
The tests to be offered to students are saliva-based home tests, Ravally said in his letter.
“The screenings have been coordinated by Mirimus, a partner company of the NJ Department of Health, for both unvaccinated and vaccinated students,” he wrote. “Each week students who participate will be issued a non-invasive saliva home screening test and once completed the sample will be returned to school. Samples will be mailed to the Mirimus testing lab and processed using accurate and reliable PCR analysis—the gold standard of COVID-19 testing— to identify positive cases.
“Within a few days, student families should receive the test results via email directly from the testing company,” Ravally wrote.
Testing kits will be distributed to students when they return from the remote learning session, Ravally wrote.
“This phase of testing will last for six weeks with another opportunity for enrollment in mid February,” he wrote. “I highly encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity and enroll now.”
The enrollment form is located on the District web site.
