Every student and staff member at DCPS schools and most charter schools will be required to report a negative COVID test before returning to the classroom after winter break.

The District added the mandate on Wednesday, upping it to a requirement after saying last week that tests were “highly recommended.” Last week, DCPS announced that the return to school would be pushed back by two days, to Wednesday Jan. 5, to accommodate COVID testing.

At a press conference, Mayor Muriel Bowser said the requirement “is our best assurance, our best ability to know that our staff and students in the building have tested negative,” so they can maintain a safe school environment.

With nearly 100,000 students and staff, Bowser says it’s one of the largest data collection efforts of the pandemic.

Here’s what the District wants families to do:

• Tests can be picked up from any school on Jan. 3 from 1-4 p.m. and Jan. 4 from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (Students can also use tests picked up at libraries or other means, but they must be taken and reported on Jan. 4).
• Tests should be taken on Tuesday, Jan. 4, and reported to dcps.dc.gov/safereturn. There, you’ll enter in your student’s name, address, contact email, and phone number, their school, date of test, and result, along with a photo or pdf of the result. If you need help with the website you can call the DCPS tech call center at 202-442-5885.
• Students who test negative may return to school on Wednesday, Jan. 5. Students who have not taken and submitted a test will not be allowed in the building.

If a student tests positive, the family should notify the school’s main office and follow isolation guidelines from D.C. Health.

If a child tests negative, families should still continue to monitor for any symptoms. If they do start to show symptoms and/or they are required to quarantine because they are unvaccinated and have had close contact with someone who is known to have tested positive for COVID-19, they are still required to stay at home regardless of their test results.

DCPS staff should report to school on Monday, Jan. 3, pick up their test before noon, and report their result by 1 p.m.

As for charter schools, which are not operated by DCPS, officials say parents should contact their individual charter schools to see how they are handling the testing. They say most charter schools are requiring tests, but some may not.

DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee urged everyone to follow these instructions as to not make more work and hassle for school staff on Jan. 5.

“We’re asking everybody… to support our schools in this safe return and comply with the requirement and testing on Tuesday,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ferebee also said that he expects some classrooms or schools to go to virtual learning in the coming weeks because of COVID cases among students or staff.

D.C. is experiencing record testing and positive case rates, with 1,915 cases per 100,000 people over the last week.

Ferebee did not lay out exact metrics for schools that would require a transition to virtual learning, but said the goal is to be “flexible, responsive and guided by student needs.” Entire schools can transition to virtual learning for up to 10 calendar days, and those decisions will be made on a case by case basis.

Schools will look at staff availability and percent of students and staff in quarantine daily at 4 p.m., and make a decision about the transition to virtual learning by 8 p.m., Ferebee said.

About 650 DCPS staff have tested positive from November to December, with at least 60 people testing positive in recent days.