AUGUSTA — The Mills Administration announced this week it is making 1.1 million at-home COVID-19 rapid antigen tests available to every school in the state to distribute to students and staff, through two federally funded efforts aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19.

For schools that choose to participate, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will offer to supply every school student and staff member with a free at-home test kit containing five to six tests.

“These tests provide additional resources for Maine schools as they continue down a path of recovery and normalcy for all who work in and learn in our schools, while still working heroically to meet the challenges caused by the pandemic,” said Education Commissioner Pender Makin.

This would total approximately 1.1 million tests if every K-12 public and private school in Maine chose to fully participate in the program. Schools may place their orders now through April 15. Test kits will be shipped to schools beginning the week of April 25 and may take several weeks to arrive depending on the size of the orders.

DHHS will provide the one-time allotment of tests to schools through two federally funded initiatives. The U.S. Department of Health of Human Services has increased the number of at-home tests available to schools by 10 million per month, as part of its plan to keep schools safely open for full-time in-person learning.

In addition to those tests, DHHS is supplying schools from the Siemens Clinitest allotment announced last month, as part of its plan to use the allotment to support ongoing needs as the pandemic continues, in addition to supporting child care facilities.

“Access to free, fast, and convenient testing is an important tool in protecting the health of Maine students and school staff as they go about their daily lives in our classrooms and communities,” said Governor Janet Mills. “I encourage Maine schools to sign up for this new opportunity, made possible through the support of the Federal government.”

Participating schools and SAUs may distribute this supply of at-home tests during this spring, summer, or fall, at their discretion.

“This new testing option will help families and school staff to quickly identify cases of COVID-19 in individuals who are close contacts, or have symptoms, to prevent them from unknowingly spreading this highly contagious disease while at school,” said DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew and Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav D. Shah. “We encourage schools to take advantage of this opportunity as we remain vigilant against the spread of new variants. The best defense against COVID-19 remains vaccination, and we urge Maine people to get vaccinated and boosted.”