Cherry Creek School District offers free COVID-19 testing for all staff, but the district's number of staff members tested may have been less than 40% in September and early October, according to district data.

In the four weeks before Oct. 5, district staff took about 3,700 tests to detect COVID-19, according to data presented at the district's board of education meeting that night. The district includes roughly 6,000 staff members who work directly with students, and another 3,200 are labeled support staff.

The district recommends testing every two weeks for those who work with students and once a month for all other staff, according to an August news release. The testing is not mandatory.

The total number of tests in that time period represents about 41% of the district's number of staff, but it's unclear how many staff members underwent testing more than once and would be counted multiple times in that total. Abbe Smith, district spokeswoman, said she does not have the number of individuals tested.

“Any student or staff member who feels sick or shows any symptoms of COVID must stay home from work or school,” Smith said. “In that case, we (also) encourage people to get tested.”

The rate of staff testing came into district officials' spotlight as the district decided to include COVID-19 cases among staff as part of the daily metrics it uses to determine whether in-person classes should continue. On Oct. 5, the district added active cases among both staff and students to its metrics. The list of data already included Arapahoe County's percentage of COVID-19 tests that show as positive, the county's number of hospitalizations and the county's overall number of added cases over time.

The district considered adding the rate of positive staff tests, rather than the raw number of staff cases, to its metric. But it had outlined a plan that 7,600 tests per month — 50% of the tests that would be used if all “direct” staff underwent two tests and all support staff took one — would be needed for the test rate to be a valid measure.

In hopes of boosting the number of staff who get tested, officials plan to move Cherry Creek's testing site from its current location near the Stutler Bowl at Cherry Creek High School — on the district's west side in Greenwood Village — to near Thunder Ridge Middle School in the east Centennial area.

It'll sit at a building called the Instructional Support Facility, Siegfried said. The district plans to move the location back and forth between its east and west sides starting after fall break, which is the week of Oct. 12.

“I'm anxious to see the result,” Siegfried told Colorado Community Media on Oct. 6. He added: “We will continue to push it.”

The district offers testing regardless of symptoms, according to Siegfried's July announcement.

For more information on the testing site's location in a given week, contact the district at 303-773-1184. Its Health Services Office number is 720-554-4274.

The testing comes through a partnership between the district and COVIDCheck Colorado, a program of Gary Community Investments, a company that invests in for-profit and philanthropic efforts in Colorado.

District employees can schedule a test here.

While employees will be asked to provide insurance information, the testing is free and there will be no copay, regardless of whether the employee is covered through district insurance or another provider, according to the district's August news release.

Some students, if their parents are not able to find a free test, can be tested through the district's program, Siegfried said. Parents who are interested in getting a test that way for their child should contact their child's school nurse, Smith said.