Dear District 58 Community,
District 58 learned today that Northshore Clinical Labs (our COVID testing provider) was featured on the news regarding an Illinois Department of Public Health investigation that involved their lab and other local labs. As a reminder, District 58 elected to use Northshore due to the State's inability to roll out its Shield testing program in a timely manner. Additionally, the Shield program also had limits associated with the specimen collection method and the versatility of scheduling. The District selected Northshore because of its flexible scheduling and the ability to provide multiple specimen collection methods. The majority of the District 99 Consortium members use Northshore as well as many other local districts. The District elected to utilize an OPTIONAL in-school testing program to assist families in need, provide a convenient service, and to help foster in-person instruction via test-to-stay.
Per the report, Northshore and other local laboratories struggled to respond to the Omicron surge, which resulted in instances of significantly delayed testing results. Further, laboratories such as Northshore outsourced some testing to third parties that underperformed and were not always able to deliver timely results.
To District 58’s knowledge, Northshore did not outsource any District 58 testing to third parties. While we have experienced issues with Northshore, the lab has been responsive and we have not experienced issues to the same degree detailed in the news report. We will continue to use Northshore's services, but will certainly monitor this situation closely.
Please note, District 58’s onsite COVID testing program is an OPTIONAL program. If your child currently participates in this testing program, and if you would like to withdraw him or her from this program, please complete this revocation form.
If you have any questions regarding District 58’s onsite COVID testing program, please contact your school nurse or Assistant Superintendent for Special Services Jessica Stewart at 630-719-5800.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kevin B. Russell
Superintendent of Schools