LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Oldham County Schools is offering a new option for students and staff to avoid quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19 at school.
Starting next week, any students or staff that are notified that they were in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 will have the option to take a rapid COVID-19 test instead of quarantining.
The 10-minute "non-invasive lower nasal swab" will be available to anyone in the district who was exposed at school, home or in the community, according to a letter from Oldham County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jason Radford.
Those who choose to participate in the voluntary "test-to-stay" program will be required to get tested each school day of their quarantine period, which is 5 to 7 days.
Those with negative results will be allowed to go to school that day. Students or staff who test positive or choose not to participate in the program will be required to quarantine.
Radford says only 2% of students in the district who are quarantined from exposure at school end up testing positive for COVID-19.
"With this in mind, our goal is to reduce quarantine time for staff and students so they will have access to as much in-person instruction as possible," Radford said in the letter.
The district says parents will receive more details on Tuesday. The first testing site will open on Wednesday, Sept. 8 at the Oldham County Arts Center.
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