ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Schools provide essential functions for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), but their vulnerability to infection with SARS-CoV-2 are a barrier to in-person learning. This qualitative study aimed to understand how weekly SARS-CoV-2 screening testing of students and staff could best facilitate in-school learning during the pandemic. METHODS: Thirty-one focus groups were held with school staff and parents of children with IDD to examine the perceptions of COVID-19 during the 2020-2021 school year. Responses were analyzed using a directed thematic content analysis approach. RESULTS: Five principal themes were identified: risks of returning to in-person learning; facilitators and barriers to participation in SARS-CoV-2 screening testing; messaging strategies; and preferred messengers. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: Staff and families agreed that saliva-based SARS-CoV-2 screening testing helps increase comfort with in-person learning. Screening testing increased family and school staff comfort with in-person learning particularly because many students with special needs cannot adhere to public health guidelines. CONCLUSION: To keep children with IDD in school during the pandemic, families found SARS-CoV-2 screening testing important, particularly for students that cannot adhere to mitigation guidelines.