Des Moines Public Schools to close last COVID-19 drive thru test site
Des Moines Public Schools will close its last COVID-19 drive-thru testing site at the end of the month.
The Kurtz Opportunity Center testing site, 1000 Porter Ave., was one of two sites opened last fall as part of a partnership with Nomi Health. School officials say 32,131 COVID tests were given during this time. The test sites were part of a larger effort by district officials to stem the spread of the airborne virus in schools.
Nomi Health is one of the Utah-based companies the state of Iowa contracted with in 2020 for its statewide Test Iowa program.
The widespread availability of COVID-19 tests and vaccines, and the decline in the public using the testing site are the reasons district and Nomi Health officials have decided to close it, said Melissa Abbott, Des Moines schools’ health services supervisor.
Nationally, health officials are anticipating a surge in COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks. So far, Iowa is not experiencing the same increases. Statewide, only 1,718 new COVID-19 cases were reported this week, according to data released Wednesday by the Iowa Department of Public Health and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This drop is reflected in the numbers of people utilizing the district’s test site. At the height of the pandemic, Nomi administered as many as 3,000 tests per week, a district news release said. That number has dropped to less than 100 tests per week.
“There has been less need for this service, and it is a natural time for the work at this site to come to end,” Abbott said.
Previously:Des Moines students and teachers have a new option for free, drive-thru COVID-19 testing
District to continue monitoring community spread
Des Moines Public Schools has been at the forefront of mitigating the spread of the virus in schools since classes resumed during the 2020-21 school year. Those efforts included moving learning online and a mask mandate. Just weeks before the end of the school year, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a ban on mask mandates in schools.
The following school year, officials could only encourage students and staff to wear masks. A lawsuit filed by Iowa parents of students disabilities led to a temporary injunction which allowed districts to reinstate the mandates. Most Iowa schools dropped mandates when a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit reinstated the 2021 law, while allowing schools to require masks to comply with another federal or state law.
In March, Des Moines schools became the last district in the state to drop its mask mandate amid falling COVID-19 cases and updated advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over the last few years, district officials have received pushback from government officials for some pandemic-related decisions. Then-Superintendent Tom Ahart even received a written reprimand from the Board of Educational Examiners for keeping students online at the start of the 2020-21 school year despite a then-state law requiring school districts to offer a 50% in-person learning option.
Ahart resigned last school year after 10 years as superintendent.
Even with the closure of the Kurtz site, district officials are continuing to take the ongoing pandemic seriously.
“We will continue to work with local and state public health officials to monitor the current state of COVID-19 and evaluate our response,” Abbott said. “Through the pandemic we have had to pivot many times and will continue to do that when and if needed.”
The testing site will close Oct. 28.
Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @svhernandez or Facebook at facebook.com/svhernandezreporter.
