COVID TESTING PROGRAM AND CONSENTING PROCESS

November 16, 2022
 
Dear Sheffield City Schools’ Parents: 
 
Sheffield City Schools (SCS) is committed to maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment and to do our
best to keep schools open for in-person learning. SCS has collaborated with the UAB School of Public Health,
the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama State Department of Education to offer free and
voluntary asymptomatic COVID-19 testing in Alabama’s K-12 schools to students, faculty and staff. This is part
of the COVID Testing and Prevention in Alabama's K-12 Schools program, operated out of the UAB School of
Public Health.  
 
First, you should know that testing is optional. However, as many of you know, getting a COVID-19 test in the
community can sometimes be difficult. By testing on-campus each week, we hope to stay ahead of any
outbreaks of the virus to keep it from spreading, and to make testing for COVID-19 easy and accessible at our
school. Early diagnosis is an important tool in maintaining the health of our students and staff.  These are not
the “brain” swabs - just a small tickle in the nose.
 
The testing vendor for the COVID Testing and Prevention in Alabama's K-12 Schools program is Luxor Scientific.
Luxor staff will be on-site conducting nasal swab COVID-19 tests at each SCS school. For additional information
regarding the testing process and other important details, take a moment to watch this short video with your
child https://vimeo.com/580466970/86014fd766 (copy and paste all URLs in your browser). You may also go
to the program’s website: https://sites.uab.edu/covidalk12/
 
Consent by parent or legal guardian is required if you want your student to participate in COVID-19 testing. To
sign your child up for testing, please visit https://sites.uab.edu/covidalk12/consent-forms/ and select the
appropriate consent link under Student Consent.  Students will be rewarded a $15 VISA gift card per week for
their participation in this program up to a maximum of $60 per month. Gift cards will be mailed to the
student’s address on file and are set up with restrictions for purchasing specific items.
 
 Please read over all of the information in the consent link carefully. Testing is scheduled each Thursday from
11:30 am – 3:00 pm at each SCS campus beginning December 1, 2022. We will send home paper copies of
enrollment instructions on Monday November 28, 2022. Once the student consent has been received, you will
be contacted to set up your student’s account. Parents will receive test results within 48 hours of collection
via text and/or email.  The only individuals at our school who will receive test results will be myself as principal,
our building based school nurse and the District RN. Parents may sign their student up for the program or opt
out at any time.  By providing this free testing service, I hope that we can give our school community peace of
mind about their child's health and safety.
 
Learn more about the program by visiting https://sites.uab.edu/covidalk12 or www.scs.k12.al.us