Safely Opening Schools
Safely Opening Schools (SOS) works to disseminate the use of COVID-19 testing, especially, rapid antigen testing, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools and helps schools stay open safely. Thank you school, government and community partners for all your dedication these last three years! As of June 30, 2023, the SOS Project has wrapped up its activities. Our website is remaining active as a courtesy but content may not be fully up to date.
New at SOS
SOS Secret ShoPper Report
We’ve just released a Secret Shopper Report that analyzes the effectiveness of the January 2022 federal emergency measure requiring health insurers to provide up to 8 free COVID-19 home tests a month for insured Californians. The report assessed the ease, or difficulty, faced by “Secret Shoppers” in attaining free tests based on their insurance provider and the pharmacy visited. Based on 479 pharmacy visits we determined that the program for the most part works – if people know their rights! Check out our Report, Press Release, Summary, and flyer for distribution!
TOGETHER WE CAN OUTSMART COVID
This new campaign provides resources for schools and parents to help make your home testing distribution more effective. We encourage you to accompany home test distribution with the letter to parents and informational materials in this toolkit. These are also available in multiple languages and can be accessed electronically. Working together, we can keep our communities healthy and happy through the holidays and beyond. Additional translation and videos are coming. See our new school toolkit, posters and videos.
New at SOS
NEW: TOGETHER WE CAN OUTSMART COVID
This new campaign provides resources for schools and parents to help make your home testing distribution more effective. We encourage you to accompany home test distribution with the letter to parents and informational materials in this toolkit. These are also available in multiple languages and can be accessed electronically. Working together, we can keep our communities healthy and happy through the holidays and beyond. Additional translation and videos are coming. See our new school toolkit, posters and videos.
Our Latest School Bulletin
The Safely Opening Schools team has prepared many new resources for use upon return to school and testing. If you are enrolled in the California K-12 School Antigen Testing Program, please visit the California Department of Public Health Bulletin. If you are enrolled in the Los Angeles County Heluna Health Rapid Antigen Testing Program, please visit the Los Angeles County Bulletin.
Tools for Schools
Safely Opening Schools partners with the California Department of Public Health to support the rollout of school-based rapid antigen testing across the state. We provide technical assistance to school districts about how to set up school COVID-19 testing programs and work with school communities to incentivize consents for broad support for on-site COVID-19 testing. Read more here.
Vaccine Policy Brief
Schools are safe to attend, but the pandemic is not over. We need to continue to keep schools as safe as possible for students and education workers. COVID-19 is a resilient virus, consistently mutating into new variants like Delta and Omicron. Read more here.
Our Mission
The Safely Opening Schools (SOS) mission is to keep schools safer by supporting COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and education for students and education workers in California School Districts. Continued testing—as new variants spread and vaccination hesitancy continues to be present—remains an important step to reduce community transmission and to keep children, school staff, and families including those at highest risk, safer.
Our Promise
Commitment to Racial and Health Equity
SOS is committed to advancing racial equity in health and education across California, and will prioritize pilots where reopening is most urgent, i.e. schools serving: large numbers of children of essential workers; predominantly Black and Latinx communities hardest hit by COVID-19; students requiring special education and other special needs; and those not doing well with remote learning.
Our Partners
