Chicago City Wire

Several school districts across Illinois have adopted COVID-19 screening programs ahead of returning to in-person teaching, all of which were negotiated by a Chicago attorney.

New Trier, Wheaton D200, Stevenson D215, CCSD89, Glenbrook D225, Glenbard School District 87 and Glen Ellyn District 41 all have adopted programs to screen students and staff for the coronavirus.

Elmhurst D205 is considering adopting a program. 

At Elmhurst, members of the school board are waiting until they are aware of what percentage of students would be willing to participate in the program before they make a decision.

Stephanie Clark questioned if it was a coincidence that all of the schools that chose the screening had Brian Crowley and Franczek PC in Chicago to negotiate.

She questioned why he told SafeGuard Screening LLC that District 87 would be doing the testing before the district’s board even agreed to do so.

“Why isn't he as legal cousel advising board to get expert medical opinion before spending millions,” Clark said. “No one seems to have any data that demonstrates if these screeners are effective. How many false positives?  How many positives were missed? If this can be done in LaGrange school science lab, can't it be replicated by other schools teaming up together?”

Clark asked why the services couldn’t be provided to all districts and not those that just had extra money.

“If it really is making a difference that is,” Clark said. “To me it just seems like a placebo to make people feel better about going back to school that wealthy school districts are buying into. Even the screening company themselves compared it to taking a temperature.”

Clark said District 87 decided to go forward with the decision without first sharing the cost information with the community and giving the community a chance to share their thoughts about it.

The programs were started with the purpose of identifying potential COVID-19 cases in the schools’ populations early enough and reduce the spread of the virus. 

At most of the districts, the cost of the tests is $11 each. 

The testing programs are saliva tests and are non-invasive and do not need medically trained personnel to collect the samples. The test is a surveillance test and if it comes back as positive, the student or staff member must get an actual test.