The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District is distributing at-home COVID-19 test kits this week.
The district received 11,500 test kits. The kits have two tests in each box, increasing the number to a little more than 23,000 tests.
There are approximately 9,400 students at Righetti, Pioneer Valley, Santa Maria, Delta and the Mark Richardson Career Technical Education Center and Agricultural Farm.
The remaining test kits will be given out throughout the school year.
“It’s great to get a test kit from my school," said Righetti student Ryan Brewer. “I’m going to put it to good use.”
“The at-home test kits are another valuable tool in the ever-changing COVID-19 situation that will help keep more of our students in school," said Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Kevin Platt. “I’d also like to remind staff, students, parents and guardians that students should stay home if they are feeling sick or have COVID-like symptoms. If students are experiencing any type of symptoms, they should take a COVID-19 test, either at home, at school, or at Allan Hancock College.”
The school community received information from their sites about the test kits via their Parent Square accounts.
The Santa Barbara County Education Office recently sent the district the test kits.
Anyone can register to get four free at-home test kits per household on the website: https://www.covidtests.gov