If your child has been in school-based close contact with a person testing positive for COVID-19 (and doesn't exhibit any symptoms), they qualify to participate in the Test to Stay program instead of quarantine out of school.

Catawba County Schools is partnering with the ABC Science Collaborative to do all we can to safely minimize lost instructional time for students exposed to COVID-19 positive people in schools. This is a research project primarily led by Duke University and Catawba County Public Health.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please visit the electronic form below or scan this QR code to provide your consent. 

https://redcap.duke.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=KDJTR4P8L8

You will also need to complete a Catawba County Schools FERPA form (hard copy) giving consent for the student to be COVID-19 tested and for Catawba County Schools to share information with Duke University.  

Participation in this program requires:

• Frequent testing for COVID-19 (on days 1, 3, and 5 or later from exposure as calculated by Catawba County Public Health)

• Monitoring for symptoms associated with COVID

• Appropriately wearing a mask as required by Catawba County Public Health even in a mask optional setting

• Continuing to be free of symptoms and COVID negative

Your participation in this program is 100% voluntary. 

If you do not wish to be a part of the Test to Stay program you will be required by Catawba County Public Health to quarantine for 5 days and may return to school while strictly wearing a mask for 5 additional days. Please be mindful of the most recently updated quarantine/isolation guidelines from Catawba County Public Health for students who are asymptomatic as listed below:

• 5 days for students who do not develop symptoms during quarantine, return to school with strict mask wearing for 5 days.

• 5 days for students who test negative for COVID-19 on or after day 5, return to school with strict mask wearing for 5 days.

• 0 days for students who have been fully vaccinated (meaning having two vaccines AND a booster or not yet eligible to receive a booster) or who have had a lab-confirmed positive in the last 90 days, with strict mask wearing for 10 days. 

Students who test positive, regardless of vaccination status, must isolate for 5 days from onset of symptoms and must isolate for at least 5 days (or until fever-free and symptoms improve) and then must wear a mask for 5 additional days. 

At-home COVID-19 tests are not an acceptable option for early return to school.  

Parents of participating students will only be notified of positive test results unless otherwise requested by the parent.

After submitting the Duke Consent Electronic Form and the CCS FERPA Consent Form, participation in this program requires:

• Frequent testing for COVID-19 (on days 1, 3, and 5 or later from exposure as calculated by Catawba County Public Health)
• Monitoring for symptoms associated with COVID
• Appropriately wearing a mask as required by Catawba County Public Health even in a mask optional setting
• Continuing to be free of symptoms and COVID negative

Students who were exposed to a COVID-19 positive person at school are eligible for the Test to Stay program. 

If the exposure occurred at home or in the community the student would not be eligible for this phase of the Test to Stay program. 

Your participation in this program is 100% voluntary. 

Parents who do not wish for their children to participate in the Test to Stay program can continue to keep their children home during the required quarantine period. The program is optional and can only be accessed with parental consent.

Parents must sign an electronic consent from Duke University AND a Catawba County Schools FERPA form to participate in this project. Your child will be given a unique identification number. School staff will know that your child is participating in the study.

Even if a student participates in the study to return to school, he or she is not eligible for athletics and extra-curricular activities (just as a student who did not opt into the Duke study) until at least the end of day 5.  If the student in the study displays no COVID-19 symptoms and has three negative COVID-19 test results, the student can participate in athletics and extra-curriculars on day 6 after exposure. 

For more information on the ABC Science Collaborative please visit https://abcsciencecollaborative.org.