Department of Education Distributes Free COVID Tests Nationwide

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), a division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced a partnership to distribute free COVID-19 tests to schools across the country. School districts are being encouraged to order tests directly from the federal government to be made available to students, parents, staff, and school communities.

The tests will be made freely available to all traditional and charter school districts nationwide. School districts may distribute these tests for free to students, staff, parents, and school communities, with the expectation that millions of tests will be sent out in the coming months – allowing schools to stock nurses’ offices, distribute at events, send tests home with students or parents, and more.

More than 1.6 billion COVID-19 tests have been distributed directly to households, schools, long-term care facilities, community health centers, and food banks through these channels – with over four million tests sent out each week, a number that is expected to rise as more school districts take advantage of this program.

Additionally, ASPR opened another round of ordering on COVIDTests.gov on November 20, making four more free tests available to households ahead of the holidays. Read the full Dear Colleague Letter from ED here.

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