SHIELD Illinois COVID testing town hall - Monday, March 8

March 7, 2021

Topic: Board of Education

CCSD21 has partnered with SHIELD Illinois (University of Illinois) to administer weekly saliva PCR tests to in-person students and staff beginning districtwide Tuesday, March 16. This is a non-invasive saliva test and there is no cost to families or staff for testing. Results will be available to School District 21 within 24 hours of testing and will be shared with the student’s parent/guardian by email shortly thereafter.

A virtual parent information night about SHIELD testing will be held Monday, March 8, at 7:00 PM. The evening will begin with a livestream replay of the Deerfield 109 SHIELD Testing Town Hall. Individuals who are interested in joining the parent night but would prefer to watch the Deerfield 109 Town Hall on their own time can instead join the CCSD21 Zoom at approximately 7:50 PM. Individuals can submit questions about SHIELD testing at any time during the parent night through Zoom’s Q&A feature.

The parent night will also be streamed on CCSD21’s YouTube channel, though individuals watching through YouTube will not be able to submit questions. The Town Hall will also be archived on YouTube for access at a later date.

More information about SHIELD Illinois testing is available here:

The implementation of a comprehensive testing program is an important part of our effort to increase the amount of in-person learning time. For this reason, testing for in-person students will be considered mandatory unless there is a specific and valid reason that a child should be exempted. Any parent or guardian seeking an exemption to mandatory testing should contact their school principal.