The West New York Board of Education is set to distribute 8,000 COVID-19 tests to students in the coming days at no cost, officials said.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The district will be distributing the COVID exams to students this week at each school. The COVID-19 home testing kits are from Healthway Services Inc., and directions for testing are in both English and Spanish.
“Ensuring that every one of our students are healthy in school will always be our priority. COVID-19 has changed education in many aspects, but the West New York Board of Education will continue to tackle this pandemic responsibly and safely,” West New York BOE President Adam Parkinson said in a statement.
“Throughout this pandemic, we have worked together to ensure the safety and well-being of all of our children. In addition, we have also offered testing to our staff members within the district for the past two weeks,” added Superintendent of Schools Clara Brito Herrera.
The West New York BOE thanked Mayor Gabriel Rodriguez, the Town of West New York and the Health Department, as well as the Township of Weehawken for assisting to secure these tests for the school district’s students.
“Our community has been resilient throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and I am thankful to our residents for being responsible as we fight against this virus. My administration will continue to work with the superintendent and the school board to provide all the necessary resources to keep our children safe,” stated Rodriguez.
The West New York School District returned back to full day in person instruction effective yesterday, Wednesday, January 18th, after consulting with the West New York Health Department.
The West New York School District also reminds parents to screen students before they enter the building, do not give them fever reducing medication before school, do not send a child to school sick, and to notify the school nurse if they are ill and/or have a COVID-19 exposure if they are not fully vaccinated.
Last week, the neighboring Union City Board of Education announced they would be distributing 15,000 COVID-19 testing kits to students before they returned to their classrooms.
