DPS Offers Free COVID-19 Tests To Students

Students and staff at Denver Public Schools can now get free COVID-19 tests thanks to an expanded partnership with COVIDCheck Colorado.

The district is recommending that all students get proof of a negative COVID-19 test before returning to in-person classes.

They also recommend students who are back to in-person learning get tested every other week to limit the potential of outbreaks on campuses.

The district currently plans to return all students through fifth grade to in-person learning on Janurary 11. Secondary students will begin a gradual phase-in from January 19 - 29.

"These sites are available throughout the district with weekday and weekend hours," a spokesperson for DPS Winna MacLaren told 9NEWS. "We are really encouraging our students to go ahead and get that initial test before they start school and then to also do so on an ongoing basis every other week just to make sure that we are tracking positive cases as they arise, making sure that we notify close contacts to those positive cases and issue quarantines as needed.”

The testing sites will have nasal swab and saliva sample tests available and results will be returned within 36-72 hours.

MacLaren said as of now, there is no planned end date for the free testing.

DPS first partnered with COVIDCheck Colorado in 2020 to provide free testing for staff so they would feel safe returning to in-person learning.

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