Despite low child vaccination rates and spikes in the number of coronavirus infections, schools around Pennsylvania have been slow to take advantage of the state’s free COVID-19 testing program, with only one Montgomery County school district participating, writes Jamie Martines for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Only 750 out of the more than 5,000 charter, private, and public schools in Pennsylvania have enrolled in the program provided by the state health department as of February 16.

About half of the participating schools are currently actively testing, while the rest are in the onboarding process.

“That’s not enough,” said Acting Secretary of Health Keara Klinepeter. She then added that the state is continuing with “further outreach” to encourage COVID-19 testing participation in Pennsylvania’s public schools.

The program has struggled to gain momentum due to schools having to juggle competing issues: COVID-19 outbreaks fueled by new variants and exhausted school staff.

Overall, out of 500 public school districts in Pennsylvania, only 25 percent are using the state’s program.

In Montgomery County, the only participating school district is Abington.

Read more about the free COVID-19 testing program in The Philadelphia Inquirer.