Adherence to state guidelines, higher percentage of weekly tests, reduced errors, improved reporting and better communication with stakeholders
Client Back Story
Shield T3’s public school system client had limited visibility and oversight into its COVID-19 testing program at an eight-ward district that encompassed almost 180 schools. The school district wasn’t fully managing the testing program’s day-to-day operations, staying on top of test results data and needed to increase the number of tests it conducted.
Compounding matters, the school district’s staff wasn’t fully trained or sized large enough to successfully administer a state-mandated program. Symptomatic collection wasn’t taking place in a timely manner, and test scheduling wasn’t well-organized.
Shield T3’s Approach
The school district hired Shield T3, along with our staffing partner, to manage on-site testing operations for the school district. We assumed the responsibility for enabling each of the district’s schools to test the minimum of 20% of its population each week.
We revamped the district’s testing program and made several critical changes to address low testing percentages and program deficiencies, including:
- Hired five additional full-time employees dedicated to the virus surveillance program and increased the number of available test collectors, aligning them more closely with individual schools to be ready for symptomatic pickups
- Moved scheduling practice to a cluster plan model, where test recipients with similar needs have appointments on the same day; additionally, Shield T3 created alternative testing schedules to address school holidays and other district closures
- Improved quality and frequency of key reporting, providing both quantitative and qualitative metrics, highlighting the number and types of tests, enrollment numbers, testing percentages, symptomatic kit refill requests and other essential data
- Initiated tracking measures to more accurately collect and report error data to mitigate the number of issues seen weekly, resulting in record-low error numbers over several monthly periods
- Developed a new training and education program for school staff and parents by facilitating online Q&A sessions for school leadership and the creation of informational packets for the school district and students’ families
Results for Our Client
The solutions Shield T3 recommended and delivered for this public school system significantly reduced the number of students and staff absent due to COVID-19.
Out of 375,885 tests completed during the revamped program’s year-long effort, there were only 5,151 positive cases (1.4% positivity rate); the testing breakdown at the end of the period indicated:
- 364,421 negative tests
- 5,777 rejected tests
- 536 inconclusive tests
How Can We Help You?
Shield T3 is in the business of keeping schools safe. We partner with all types of schools and colleges across the U.S. Our commitment to helping educational institutions runs deep. That’s because the science behind our COVID-19 tests is driven by university research. This core commitment keeps our business centered on providing value to educational services industry clients and enables us to customize our testing solutions to fit the needs of any school in any location.
To learn more about how Shield T3 can be your turnkey solution, our commitment to “gold-standard” PCR tests and wastewater testing capabilities, visit shieldt3.com or email info@shieldt3.com.
