Published 8/2/2020
The Farmington School District is proud to announce that we have contracted with an Arkansas owned infection prevention and control company, Eason Freedom. They utilize Bac-Track Technology to track bacteria and virus levels in nursing homes, hospitals, and school districts.
Using ATP technology and consultation with our student services department, they implement a test, treat, track, and train program. Eason Freedom will test Farmington’s buildings, classrooms, and buses to prevent infections and manage possible outbreaks. Mark Elliott of Bac-Track says “Our technology makes the invisible bacteria and virus cells visible in order to verify the level of disinfection that has been done and show you where you need to improve your disinfection in order to prevent contamination.”
Bac-track technology and consulting has been working in conjunction with the CDC for over eight years. Recently they have been successful in keeping multiple Arkansas nursing homes Covid-19 free. “This will help us add another layer of safety to ensure that our buildings, classrooms, and buses are at safe levels for our students and staff,” stated Superintendent, Jon Laffoon. “This will also allow us to pinpoint a location if we were to have an outbreak and that will help us clean and disinfect safely before we re-open that location,” Laffoon said.
This past week, Mark Elliott of Eason Freedom tested all of the high-traffic areas in our athletic facilities. Over-all, he was able to pinpoint specific areas that are considered “hot spots” that might look clean, but are not sanitized to the standard needed for the safety of our students and staff. In a few weeks, we have planned for Eason Freedom to come back out and re-test these facilities, and also test all our other campuses as well.
Due to COVID-19 cases across two teams, athletics at Farmington have been suspended since July 23rd. Most groups will resume practice after August 1st. During the time off, we have sanitized all athletic facilities as recommended by Eason Freedom. With their help and Bac-Track Technology, we know where to concentrate our disinfecting efforts now and after students arrive back on campus.
“We are pretty sure, through contact tracing, that the initial infections came from outside our district and facilities. We have not had any athletes identified as spreading the virus from a school-related activity. But, with our new innovative partnership with Eason Freedom, we are adding an extra layer of protection for our students and staff as they return to our schools this fall. Our goal will continue to be to keep our students and staff as safe as possible.” says Superintendent Lafoon.