This letter was sent to families/guardians of students attending Airline Drive Academy and the Maywood School on Dec. 1, 2021 by Special Education Director Caralee Kardash.
We will soon begin offering voluntary COVID-19 testing for students at Airline Drive Academy and the Maywood School who show signs of illness during the school day. We are offering this in our schools as a convenience, as it is becoming increasingly difficult to find COVID-19 testing with reasonable turnaround times. A quick, simple and pain-free (saliva-based oral swab) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test will be used. Results will generally be available within 24 hours.
This testing is an easy and trusted way to confirm or rule out COVID-19 as the illness, and also means students who test negative for COVID-19 can return to school more quickly once they feel better. In addition to helping protect students and staff, testing can also help protect family members and others who are at risk of illness.
Testing will only be administered to students exhibiting one or more symptoms of COVID-19 with PRIOR written and verbal consent from children’s families/guardians.
To ensure your child is eligible for testing if the need arises, please complete an online form and set up a Quadrant/Clarifi-COVID 19 web app account. More details about the process are included with this letter. You have to have an account with Quadrant if at any time you would like your symptomatic child tested for COVID-19.
If you need help or support completing the online form or creating a Quadrant account, please contact me or stop by the main office of your child’s school. We are more than happy to help you with this process.
Please know that we continue to follow COVID-19 guidance and requirements from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and are taking such steps as this voluntary testing to ensure our schools are safe and healthy spaces and can remain open for in-person learning throughout the year.
Thank you for your support and for working together with us to contain the spread of this virus.
Register Your Child For COVID-19 Testing
To register your child for the COVID-19 Testing Program, please complete the following two steps:
- Complete the parent/guardian testing consent form.
- Register online with the Clarifi-COVID 19 web app at https://app.clarifi-covid-19.com/
- If you have more than one child attending Airline Drive Academy or the Maywood School, you must create a profile for each.
When creating a profile for your child(ren):
- Choose “K-12 School” for the organization type, then select “Albany County.”
- Select “Capital Region BOCES” as the school your child attends. This will be listed in the dropdown menu, along with other Albany County schools, in alphabetical order. It is important that you choose the correct school.
- Although you will be asked for a social security number, you do not need to provide one. You can select the option “Decline to Provide a Social Security Number.”
- You do not need to enter a student organization ID.
- After reviewing the test authorization language and agreements, check the three corresponding boxes to provide consent, then click submit to complete the profile.
- Once you have completed the profile, you will be brought to a screen that offers three (3) options:
- Register a COVID-19 test
- Add another profile
- Back to dashboard
- If you wish to add profiles for additional children, select “Add Another Profile” Please DO NOT select “Register a COVID-19 Test”; the school nurse will register the test after it has been administered.
For help creating a student profile with Quadrant via the Clarifi-COVID 19 web app, please watch this short video:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Below are answers to questions you may have about Capital Region BOCES’ COVID-19 student testing program. If you have additional questions, or need help registering your child(ren) for testing, please contact your child’s school principal.
How is the testing done?
The COVID-19 testing is quick, easy and does not hurt. The testing program will use a saliva-based, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. PCR tests are the most accurate tests for detecting the virus that causes COVID-19. Individuals will gently swab their mouth with a Q-tip and place the Q-tip in a vial and screw a cap on. Watch a short video at bit.ly/3EHssOK. We will accommodate all students’ needs to help them be comfortable during the test.
Where and when is the testing done?
If a child becomes ill during the school day, they will be taken to a room designated for those who are sick where our nurses will provide care and administer a COVID test, if needed and only when permission has been previously granted. Results will be available about 24 hours after the specimens have arrived at the lab. Our school nurses will call parents/guardians of all positive students.
How much does testing cost?
There is no out-of-pocket cost to participate in the program, regardless of health insurance status.
How can I be sure that my child’s information will be protected?
Sharing of information about your child will only be done for public health purposes and in accordance with applicable law and policies protecting student privacy and the security of your child’s data. Only Capital Region BOCES, the NYSDOH, Albany County Public Health Services, and the local health department where the student resides (if not Albany County) will receive results.