About this Resource
National public health leaders, including the Centers for Disease Control, believe that that regular screening testing for COVID-19 in schools is a critical part of our nation’s school reopening strategy and have provided significant federal funding and operational support resources (including this toolkit and other technical assistance) to support the development and implementation of school COVID-19 testing programs.
The Open and Safe Schools toolkit is designed to support state public health leaders and school leaders in leveraging federal government programs and resources to implement school COVID-19 testing programs as a part of their school reopening strategies.
School Toolkit
A step-by-step guide for school leaders on how to implement a School COVID-19 Testing Program from Why to Test to Getting Started to Communicating about your program. The Peer-to-Peer hub allows you to connect with school leaders who have successfully implemented programs directly.
For States
Resources specifically for state and local public health leaders designing programs, including an Overview of the federal funding options available, a deep dive into how to leverage the largest School COVID-19 Testing funding source available to states and other jurisdictions, Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) funding, and an overview of the Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT) program which provides testing services directly to schools.
Search Vendors
The right partners are key to any successful School COVID-19 Testing Program. In collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation’s K-12 National Testing Action Program, we created a filterable list of testing vendors that are prepared to serve schools in every jurisdiction.
Open and Safe Schools is created by the Shah Family Foundation in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies supporting school COVID-19 testing.