Board approves short‑term Safer Together testing MOU after debate over consent and data language

The San Francisco Board of Education voted Jan. 25 to approve an MOU with Safer Together to provide rapid antigen testing at district sites through June 2022, after commissioners and staff debated privacy and consent language and the contract’s term.

Commissioner Collins led questions about the online registration language she encountered while trying to sign up as a parent, reading a passage that said a signer "acknowledge[s] I am voluntarily giving up substantial legal rights" in exchange for testing. Collins said she did not understand what "substantial legal rights" parents would be relinquishing and asked staff to explain. District staff said they could not answer that question on the spot and would need to review the waiver language and consult HIPAA and legal experts before responding.

Staff explained the practical basis for the partnership: Safer Together participates in the California Department of Public Health’s testing task force and has been operating no‑cost rapid‑test sites at SFUSD locations, providing proctored, professional‑grade antigen tests that district staff said have relieved demand in the community. Staff also said the MOU attachment correctly lists the agreement term through June 2022 (the agenda item language used a standard three‑year template in error) and that the district plans to issue a request for proposals this spring to consider longer‑term testing strategies.

Commissioners raised two recurring concerns: whether the registration and consent language originates with the state CDPH platform or with Safer Together, and whether immigrant families might be deterred from testing by confusing or alarming online terms. Staff committed to obtain and share the waiver text and to clarify who authored the language. Staff also affirmed that district MOUs and contracts prohibit sharing of personally identifying data collected under contract, and that they would report back with specific legal and privacy details.

After public comment and discussion, the board approved the MOU by roll call (Commissioner Collins recorded a 'No'; other board members and student delegates voted 'Yes').

What follows: Staff said it will return with the waiver language, clarifications about data use and more detail on testing availability, and will continue work on a district RFP for testing procurement in the spring.