WASHINGTON — DC Public Schools students will head back to class Thursday after a long holiday break, which was further compounded by Monday's snowstorm. But before any DCPS student, teacher or staff member comes back, they are required to provide a negative COVID test result to the school district.
"Students must be tested today," DCPS wrote in an email to WUSA9 Wednesday. "Families should go to dcps.dc.gov/safereturn to upload your student’s results."
Parents and teachers said the website to enter testing information is malfunctioning.
"We are experiencing ongoing technical issues with our Safe Return portal," DCPS wrote. "As a result, some families may experience difficulties uploading proof of their child’s test result."
Now, DCPS is modifying the requirements for students to return to school, and expanding the options parents have for verifying tests results.
If families are not able to upload their child’s results, students can:
- Bring a signed note (typed or handwritten) from their parent or guardian, stating that the child was tested on Wednesday, January 5, and that the test was negative.
- Show a photo of a negative test on their phone or the phone of their parent or guardian.
- Bring a screenshot or printout of a negative test result email.
DCPS added that if a student does positive, their family should call their school office to notify them, and the school can provide details on quarantine policies.
"Students who test positive must isolate for a minimum of ten (10) days from the onset of symptoms or their positive test result, if asymptomatic," according to DCPS policy.
DCPS provided at-home rapid tests for parents and staff. But not all of the parents are pleased by the honor code system.
“I think they should have actually given the kids the test because who knows who's taking them now," said Donza Spencer, a mother of two DCPS students. "I’m not saying they won't give it to the kids, but I would feel better about the situation if the school maybe scheduled kids to come in a certain time to take the test, and then we'll have the results there."
One D.C. teacher and mother said Thursday will be an interesting day.
“All you have to do is take a picture of a negative test," the woman said. "So, there can be one picture for everybody that they can see, it doesn't really matter if it's yours. There's no way to tell if it's your test results."
Despite the rise in cases, the teacher said she's still in support of in-person learning.
“It’s hard to enforce grades when you're offering a virtual option because a lot of our students have no ability to get on,” she added.
DCPS parent Clint Malik said he and his 8-year-old daughter are both vaccinated. He’s forgoing an attempt to use the district portal and plans to email her test results in. He added that he hopes more parents consider vaccinating their children to help stop the spread.
“I have more confidence in that," Malik said. "More kids end up getting vaccinated and to help out lower the numbers."