As the omicron variant rapidly spread during the holiday break, Bainbridge Island School District has prepared its COVID testing site with extra tests and staff to meet the demand.

By day’s end Monday, the team had administered more than 300 rapid tests for staff and students returning to school.

With more than 160 cases reported in the district since Dec. 15, one has to wonder if BISD will close schools if COVID cases continue to rapidly increase.

BISD public relations officer Erin Bischoff said that would happen only if the district cannot safely operate schools due to staff absences, or if the district were directed to do so by the Kitsap Public Health District due to the number of cases. She said unlike early in the pandemic, the state Department of Health and schools office have not set a threshold for case count for the 2021-22 school year.

On Jan 3, the Seattle school district did not reopen schools in order to test all students and staff before opening after the winter break.

Bischoff said this district did not do that because “BISD is collaborating closely with Kitsap health department, which does not recommend this approach, and the district does not have sufficient tests, nor personnel, to test all students and staff in one day.”

The current model of making testing available to staff and students is the best approach, she said. “Even if we had enough tests, a one-day, test-all strategy would only provide assurance for 24 to 48 hours. In order to be effective, we would have to replicate this process every two or three days,” she said.

The district is committed to keeping schools open because “the loss of learning, and socialization that occurs when we pause school is substantial,” Bischoff said.

The district continues to conduct contract tracing protocols and will continue to do so in accordance with updated guidance from the KPHD or DOH. A member of KPHD is onsite at the district office for the next two weeks to help support such efforts.