Asheville City Schools will be cancelling all facility rentals that involve the use of any of our buildings effective Monday, March 16th at 8:00 AM. Subscribe to RSS Feed - District News . Comments (-1) Asheville City Schools Partnering With Community Supporters to Bridge the Digital Divide. “This program gives us another tool in our tool kit to slow the spread of COVID-19 across our state and to keep children in the classroom, which we know is vital not only to their academic growth but also to their health and emotional development,” state health secretary Mandy Cohen said in a statement last week. Outbreaks drove administrators to temporarily close schools in multiple districts including Madison, Bladen, and Wayne. Tests are to be used for students and staff who have COVID-19 symptoms or who are close contacts of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Local health departments in each county participated in the application process and, in some cases, will help with testing. To be selected for the first phase of the program, local education agencies had to confirm to their local health department that each participating school can: obtain parental/guardian consent prior to testing, maintain adequate supplies of personal protective equipment, have trained personnel to administer tests or partner with a local health provider and report test results to state and local public health agencies. This fall, case counts rose as schools returned more students. Although the spread of COVID-19 appears to have started in China, it is important to remember that the coronavirus infection is not connected to any race, ethnicity, or nationality. The swab must be performed by trained personnel. Several mountain school districts have canceled upcoming field trips amid concerns over COVID-19 (coronavirus). Parents or guardians must consent before students are tested. ABOUT. Asheville City Council. The tests will be reserved for students and staff who display COVID-19 symptoms or who came in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. The COVID-19 rapid testing will be distributed to students in K-12 public schools where any in-person instruction is occurring. Here is a complete list of districts and schools, broken down by county, taking part in the pilot program: Brian Gordon is a statewide reporter with the USA Today Network in North Carolina. ... Buncombe County: Asheville City Schools (11 locations), … Dr. Gene Freeman, superintendent of Asheville City Schools, made the decision to close school buildings in response to the sudden increase in COVID-19 cases across the state and community. Schools and districts selected for the program are offering full in-person instruction (Plan A) or hybrid remote and in-person instruction (Plan B). Buncombe County will have testing at 55 schools, including 11 in the Asheville City district. Below is the full list of participating schools and districts by county: It looks like you're using ad blocking technology. RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)– A pilot program for rapid COVID-19 testing is coming to 17 school districts and 11 charter schools across North Carolina, the Department of Health and Human Services announced. ... updated 05.12.2020. ACS can confirm two positive cases of COVID-19 in Asheville Middle School and two cases in Asheville High School, impacting four sports teams across both campuses. NCDHHS sent the selected districts and schools more than 50,000 federally funded rapid antigen tests. Asheville City Schools has been working with Buncombe County Health and Human Services as well as MAHEC to prevent the spread of all diseases across our school district, including the coronavirus. Seventeen North Carolina school districts and 11 charter schools are getting COVID-19 testing kits to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has selected 17 school districts and 11 charter schools to participate in a pilot program to deploy COVID-19 rapid testing in K-12 public schools where any in-person instruction is happening. A Reopening Stakeholders Task Force meeting looked at current COVID-19 metrics. Students and staff will have access to more than 200 school-based testing locations across 17 counties as part of the pilot. In a press release Thursday, NCDHHS said the pilot program will be at K-12 public schools where in-person learning is taking place. Private schools, which reopened more aggressively at the start of the school year - report a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services has selected 17 school districts and 11 charter schools to receive more than 50,000 federally funded rapid antigen tests through its pilot testing program. If you are a jobseeker or current employee with questions on the current process or policies, we suggest contacting the district and reviewing the current guidelines as presented by the CDC. HELP. “This program gives us another tool in our toolkit to slow the spread of COVID-19 across our state and to keep children in the classroom, which we know is vital not only to their academic growth but also to their health and emotional development,” said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D. COVID-19. In fact, thanks to a new partnership between the district, the Asheville City Schools Foundation, Buncombe County Government, the City of Asheville and the Asheville Housing Authority, the first group of families in Asheville Housing’s Southside Community near the Arthur R. Edington … ENDORSEMENTS. ASK. “The ability to quickly identify students that are positive will also allow us to more quickly identify close contacts and send them home to quarantine, said Amy Widderich, the lead nurse of the Alamance-Burlington School System, in an email. Asheville City Schools will be delivering meals from 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM to the community centers at: Pisgah View Apartments; Hillcrest Apartments; Klondyke Apartments; After hearing from families on our School Nutrition COVID-19 Hotline, we're also slightly adjusting our Livingston Stops. CALL CENTER. Comments (-1) more . QUESTIONNAIRES. Asheville City Schools is expanding internet infrastructure beyond its current buildings and into the community. Rapid testing will be available at more than 200 schools, with most located in just a handful of districts. Alamance-Burlington plans to allow all students back into classrooms on Feb. 1, the same day Asheville City hopes to begin returning its students part-time. Asheville City Schools move online today, Buncombe to follow Asheville City Schools make the plunge into virtual learning today after a teacher prep-day on Monday. No new school clusters of COVID-19 were reported in Catawba County this week, and the two reported last week have not grown. Schools in the pilot will use the Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen test card, which uses a nasal swab to detect COVID-19 and provides results in 15 minutes without laboratory processing. Comments (-1) Project MARS/AmeriCorps members will serve as School Engagement Coordinators in Western North Carolina. 828-419-0095. Food Resources for Families Asheville City Schools is distributing meals to students each day at various food distribution sites throughout the community . Asheville City Schools may freeze its preschool program due to lack of space, a move a critic says will hurt efforts to bridge the state's worst racial achievement gap. Coronavirus update: North Carolina receives its first shipments of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to Stock Surplus Trout in WNC Impoundments, Omni Grove Park Inn Begins Revealing National Gingerbread House Competition Winners, North Carolina Arboretum Adjusts Winter Lights Hours, Largest Floating Solar Power Plant in the Southeast Coming to Fort Bragg, Asheville City Schools Among Those Selected to Participate in Statewide COVID-19 Testing Pilot Program, Employment Agencies, Consultants & Businesses, Alamance County: Alamance-Burlington School System (33 locations), Albemarle County: Northeast Academy for Aerospace and Advanced Technologies (1 location), Bladen County: Emereau Bladen Charter School (1 location), Buncombe County: Asheville City Schools (11 locations), Buncombe County Schools (44 locations), Francine Delany Charter School (1 location), Cabarrus County: Cabarrus Charter K-12 (2 locations), Cabarrus County Schools (6 locations), Kannapolis City Schools (2 locations), Catawba County: Catawba County Schools (29 locations), Hickory Public Schools (9 locations), Newton Conover City Schools (6 locations), Durham County: Central Park School for Children (1 location), Healthy Start Academy (1 location), Forsyth County: NC Leadership Academy (1 location), Gaston County: Gaston County Schools (1 location), Harnett County: Harnett County Schools (28 locations), Johnston County: Johnston County Public Schools (1 location), Lenoir County: Lenoir County Public Schools (17 locations), Lincoln County: Lincoln Charter School (2 locations), Madison County: Madison County K-12 Public Schools (6 locations), Mecklenburg County: Lake Norman Charter (1 location), Sugar Creek Charter School (1 location), UpROAR Leadership Academy (1 location), Surry County: Elkin City Schools (3 locations), Mount Airy City Schools (4 locations), Surry County Schools (20 locations), Wilson County: Wilson County Schools (2 locations). 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