IMPORTANT Info For Return To School
Huntington Beach, CA-The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has announced that it will offer free rapid antigen COVID-19 tests to families across the state as students return from winter break. While Ocean View School District plans to participate in the program, the timeline for distribution in Orange County remains uncertain. In an effort to reduce COVID-19 transmission on campuses as the Omicron variant surges, the CDPH said it will make millions of rapid antigen testing kits available to students through their parents and guardians as soon as this week. State health officials have stressed that there is no statewide testing mandate, but families are strongly encouraged to use the rapid tests as an added precaution. Once the shipments arrive at the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) — weather challenges have so far contributed to uncertain timeframes —we will pick up the kits and offer them to families at no cost. The CDPH is guaranteeing at least one test for every public school student, but most students in California will get a box with two tests. That will allow each student to be tested twice. The state has developed flyers in English and Spanish that explain when to test your child and what steps to take if you get a positive test result. More information can be found on the CDPH website. Pending the arrival of testing kits for Orange County schools, we tentatively plan to distribute and administer rapid tests in Ocean View, on Sunday, January 2nd in the afternoon. More details to follow.