Phoenix Union offers free on-campus and at-home COVID testing

PHOENIX – Phoenix Union High School District is rolling out free on-site and at-home COVID-19 testing opportunities for staff, students and the community.

The city’s largest district, with 22 schools and more than 28,000 students, announced testing partnerships Thursday with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Embry Health, Premier Lab Solutions and Family Tree Healthcare.

Starting today, PXU will offer free on-site COVID testing for all staff, students, & families. You can visit Carl Hayden, Central, Cesar Chavez, Academies at South, or Trevor Browne High Schools from 7:30am – 5:30pm M-F (school days) for testing.  Visit https://t.co/pLGcSWDqqm 🍎 pic.twitter.com/zl85rym0Ck

— PXU (@PhoenixUnion) September 2, 2021

“Phoenix Union will continue to offer and expand critical health services for our entire community throughout the pandemic,” Superintendent Dr. Chad Gestson said in a press release.

“We are already a leader in vaccine distribution. We will now become a leader in COVID testing. Putting the same effort into testing will mean safer schools that can remain open for in-person learning and, ultimately, a safer community for everyone.”

The program includes campus parking lot testing from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on schooldays. It started Thursday at Carl Hayden Community, Central, Cesar Chavez and Trevor G. Browne high schools and Academies at South Mountain.

All of the district’s other comprehensive campuses will start offering testing on Sept. 20.

No appointments are required, but anybody under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian or provide a signed consent form.

Next week, the district will start providing BinaxNOW home testing for staff, students and family members who have COVID-19 symptoms or who have been asked to quarantine because of possible exposure to the virus.

In addition, testing and COVID-19 vaccination clinics will be held at three schools on select Saturdays in September, October and November, with no appointments necessary. Here are the dates and locations for the Saturday events, which will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.:

• Betty H. Fairfax High School: Sept. 11, Oct. 2, Oct. 23.
• North High School: Sept. 18, Oct. 9, Oct. 30.
• Trevor G. Browne High School: Sept. 25, Oct. 16, Nov. 6.

That’s on top of the district’s ongoing vaccination clinics from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Saturday in September at Metro Tech High School. Vaccines will also be available at a site to be determined on Saturdays in October, the district said.

Follow @kstonezone