Buffalo parent group seeks 'surveillance testing' for in-person instruction

Oct. 6--As the Buffalo Public Schools prepare for a return to in-person instruction amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a parent group is asking for help in providing surveillance testing among the district's 32,000 students.

The Buffalo Parent-Teacher Organization on Monday called on the local business community and the region's major health insurers to help provide the financial support needed for the school district to offer free Covid-19 testing upon a return to school.

"We need insurance companies and the business community to step up and provide financial support to get free, rapid-turnaround Covid-19 testing for our schools," said Rachel Fix Dominguez, co-chair of the Buffalo Parent-Teacher Organization. "That's the only way we're going to be able to reopen safely."

Ideally, Dominguez said, the parent group would like to have all students tested prior to any return to the classroom, followed by occasional surveillance testing to help contain the spread in schools.

"We have to keep everyone safe, and testing is the best way to ensure our safety," she said.

Those comments from the parent group on the steps of City Hall on Monday followed an op-ed piece in The Buffalo News over the weekend, where Dominguez and Keith Jones, a BPTO board member, called for more rigorous testing in schools.

The Erie County Health Department did announce last week that the county will now offer rapid testing by appointment to any students up through high school, as well as school staff. But that's specifically for those who participate in on-site school instruction and show symptoms associated with Covid-19.

The parent group on Monday publicly asked for help from the region's major health insurers -- Univera, Independent Health and BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York -- which no longer cover the tests for its members unless requested by a medical professional for a diagnosis.

Legislation passed by Congress in March initially required insurance plans to cover Covid-19 tests in full. But the federal departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services in June narrowed that requirement, ruling that insurers could deny coverage of testing for "public health surveillance" or "general workplace health and safety" purposes.

"We continue to cover COVID-19 testing with no member cost share for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes," Frank Sava, a spokesman for Independent Health said in a prepared statement. "According to federal guidance, testing as part of returning to work or for in-person school screening is not required to be covered under commercial health insurance and our policy, which is consistent with other plans throughout New York State, continues to follow this guidance."

The school district began the new school year fully remote for all of its students. The BPTO is raising the testing issue now because the school district is considering its next steps for reopening.

On Wednesday, Superintendent Kriner Cash is expected to provide an update to the School Board, offer dates for students to return and lay out how this next phase might work.

The district is considering in-person instruction after the first marking period, which ends Nov. 13. Although, any return would be phased in, targeting the most vulnerable populations of students first.

The school district is still hoping to offer all students the option of returning to the classroom on a part-time basis before the first semester ends in January.

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