All school districts across the United States will be able to provide free COVID-19 tests to students, parents, staff, and school communities with tests kits ordered directly from the federal government beginning in early December.
On Wednesday morning, the U.S. Department of Education and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, a division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced a partnership to distribute free COVID-19 tests to schools across the country.
School districts were encouraged to order tests directly from the federal government in a letter the education department sent to education agencies.
“The Biden-Harris administration remains a committed partner with schools in keeping our students and teachers safe and healthy,” said Roberto Rodriguez, assistant secretary for Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development of the Department of Education. “These self-tests are easy to use and can play an important role in preventing the spread of COVID-19. We encourage schools to make use of these free resources to safeguard students, parents, and staff throughout the 2023-24 school year.”
All traditional and charter LEAs nationwide will be included in the free test distribution. School districts may distribute the tests for free to students, staff, parents, and school communities, with the expectation that millions of tests will be sent out in the coming months – allowing schools to stock nurses’ offices, distribute at events, send tests home with students or parents and more.
“Keeping students and teachers safe has been a priority of the Biden-Harris administration since day one. Making free COVID-19 tests available to schools this year ensures that students and staff can test throughout the winter months,” said Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for Preparedness and Response at HHS. “The partnership announced today leverages ASPR’s ongoing test distribution programs to reach school communities through ED’s close relationship to school districts – helping keep communities healthy.”
The partnership is part of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to boost COVID-19 testing access across the country – building on test distribution programs that ASPR has led for over two years. Over 1.6 billion COVID-19 tests have been distributed directly to households, schools, long-term care facilities, community health centers, and food banks through these channels – with over four million tests sent out each week, a number that is expected to rise as more school districts take advantage of this program.
Additionally, four more free COVID-19 rapid tests have been made available for every U.S. household order and have delivered directly to their home. Before throwing out older test kits, the agency recommended checking for extended expiration dates by visiting the At-Home OTC COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests page on FDA.gov.
The Biden-Harris administration expressed hope that the combined efforts would increase COVID-19 testing in schools to keep students safe and schools open.