Poway High School

Subject:  COVID Testing for Basketball, and Wrestling,

Dear Titans Parent/Guardian,

Recently the California Department of Public Health and CIF San Diego updated their guidance for indoor athletics.  The following updates were made on November 24, 2021:

16. School-Based Extracurricular Activities CDPH Update (11/24/2021)

The requirements and recommendations in this guidance apply to all extracurricular activities that are operated or supervised by schools, and all activities that occur on a school site, whether or not they occur during school hours, including, but not limited to, sports, band, chorus, and clubs.

Activities may be performed outdoors without masks.  Indoor mask use remains a critical layer in protecting against COVID-19 infection and transmission, including during sports, music, and related activities.  Accordingly:

●       Masks are required indoors at all times for teachers, referees, officials, coaches, and support staff.

●       Masks are required indoors for all spectators and observers.

●       Masks are required indoors at all times when participants are not actively practicing, conditioning, competing, or performing.  Masks are also required indoors while on the sidelines, in team meetings, and within locker rooms and weight rooms.

●       When actively practicing, conditioning, or competing in indoor sports, masks are required by participants even during heavy exertion, as practicable.  If masks are not worn due to heavy exertion, it is strongly recommended that individuals undergo screening testing at least once weekly.  An FDA-approved antigen test, PCR test, or pooled PCR test is acceptable for evaluation of an individual's COVID-19 status.

At     High School, we seek to maintain a safe environment for employees, students, families, and the community. To support those goals, PUSD has partnered with Concentric by Ginkgo to provide free weekly testing for student-athletes.  Testing will take place at school and will involve pool testing.  Pooling can test  up to 25 people using one test. All students in a class, pod, or cohort swab their own noses and place their swabs in a single tube (that’s the pooling step). The samples in that tube are then run as a single sample, using one test. See it in action here.  If any pool comes back positive, individual rapid antigen tests will be provided for only those individuals in the pool.   

In order for student-athletes to participate in the COVID-19 pool testing, parents must complete a consent form. This process should take no more than 5 minutes to complete using a computer or a smartphone.

  1. First, click here (https://testcenter.concentricbyginkgo.com/minor-consent).

  2. Then, enter this access code: [po-highschool]

  3. Finally, enter your student-athletes information, and you’re done!

If you need to provide consent for more than one student-athlete, please complete the process once for each student. Only students with completed consent forms are able to participate in testing. Again, participating in weekly screening testing is strongly recommended by the CDPH, San Diego Public Health, and CIF San Diego for those student-athletes who are not able to wear masks while competing indoors. If you have questions or concerns, please contact (site administrator or athletic director).

To learn more about pooled testing, read the attached overview of Concentric’s pooled testing program and watch this video from another school using this service.

For more information, visit Concentric by Ginkgo’s website or reach out to PHS.

Thank you,

Poway High School