Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (NC-05) and Congressman Chris Jacobs (NY-27) released the following statements after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today it was endorsing a test-to-stay option for students to remain in the classroom following the Members' successful advocacy.
“Keeping children out of the classroom for months on end was a major mistake that must never be repeated. A test-to-stay option is a practical solution to both keep students safe and ensure that more learning loss doesn’t occur." Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Foxx said.
“Test-to-stay allows students to remain learning in the classroom and avoid the negative consequences of learning from home that we have seen throughout the pandemic. From internet trouble to lack of meaningful social interaction to logistical concerns for parents, it is abundantly clear that students being in the classroom for in-person learning is beneficial to their social, emotional, and educational development. I am proud to have led this effort with Congresswoman Foxx to urge the CDC to endorse a test-to-stay option to keep our students healthy and in the classroom," Rep. Jacobs said.
The letter was also signed by Congressman Burgess Owens (UT-04), and Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02). Full text of the letter from November 9th, 2021 can be found here:
Dear Dr. Walensky,
We write to request the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide further guidance on “test-to-stay" models for responding to COVID-19 infections in schools. Current CDC guidance recommends quarantining close contacts of individuals infected with COVID-19 regardless of test results. Under test-to-stay models, when someone tests positive for COVID-19, their close contacts are given daily rapid tests instead of quarantining. If that close contact tests negative, they may remain in school. This approach adheres to the currently available science and data on COVID-19 transmission in schools and is the best way to limit learning loss due to COVID19.
Many parents and educators throughout our districts have expressed their frustrations with the current quarantine guidance. Quarantining students who are not infected with COVID-19 creates unnecessary logistical challenges for parents and results in considerable learning loss for students. Most quarantined students miss five to seven days of school. Data from Erie and Niagara counties in New York show only about 1.5% of isolated close contacts end up testing positive for COVID-19. This means most students who have thus far been quarantined in Western New York did not in fact need to stay home.
The data is clear that test-to-stay works. A study of secondary schools in the United Kingdom found the model saved in-person school days while still successfully identifying and isolating positive cases. In Utah, a pilot version of test-to-stay saved over 100,000 days of in-person instruction for roughly 60,000 students, according to a May 2021 CDC report. Utah and Massachusetts are now successfully implementing this model and other states are planning to follow suit.
Our children have lost far too many days of in-person learning since March 2020. The CDC’s own guidance notes up front that students benefit from in-person learning and that safely returning to in-person instruction in the Fall of 2021 is a priority. Now that we have the science and data to manage this virus, we owe it to our children, parents and educators to ensure we are maximizing in-person learning.
