Add as a preferred source on Google

Parents Create COVID-Screening App for Schools

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 07/21/20

Dr. Brian Benson, a family physician and his wife, Kaley Benson developed a symptom-screening software for schools, reports a local news station.

The parents have three kids who attend Louisiana Key Academy, a charter school for children with dyslexia. The school is the first in the region to return to the classroom with new safety protocols in place.  

To aid in a safe reopening, the Bensons created a software called Cleared4School, which is currently being used at LKA. Each school day a parent answers 11 questions related to COVID-19 symptoms, including if their child has had a loss of taste or smell in the last three days. Once the parent has finished the survey and cleared, the child is able to enter the building.

 “You feel more comfortable trusting your child in that environment, and the teachers feel more comfortable because all of the kids have been screened,” Kaley told news station, WBRZ2.

The online program relies on the honor system. According to the Cleared4School website, no symptoms and no names are recorded.

The Bensons are talking to other school districts to see if they would like to implement the software.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • California High School Starts Construction on STEAM, Music Buildings

    Tamalpais High School, part of the Tamalpais Union High School District, recently broke ground on two new major facilities for its campus in Mill Valley, Calif., according to a news release. The district is partnering with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) and Lathrop Construction Associates for the Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) and Music Buildings, both replacing their outdated counterparts.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.

  • Texas K–12 District to Build New Elementary, High Schools

    The High Island Independent School District on the Bolivar Peninsula in Southeast Texas recently announced that construction on a new elementary school and a new high school will begin in January 2026, according to local news. Funding will come from a $27.9-million bond passed in May 2025.

  • New eBook Shares Guidelines on Building CTE Centers

    Career and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum and resources provider iCEV recently announced the publication of a new eBook sharing guidance and insights on building new CTE facilities, according to a news release.

Digital Edition