How to Fill Out and Submit the LAUSD TB Test Form (Form 8478)

To work or volunteer at a Los Angeles Unified campus, you need to submit the LAUSD TB test form, officially titled the Tuberculosis Certificate of Completion (LAUSD/HR Form 8478). A licensed healthcare provider completes it after a TB risk assessment and, if your answers warrant it, a skin or blood test. Employees send the finished form to LAUSD Employee Health Services; volunteers upload it through the online volunteer application.

Where to Get Form 8478

Download the form from the LAUSD Employee Health Services “Forms” page.¹ Volunteers can reach the same document through the LAUSD volunteer page.² It is a single multi-part document that contains both the TB Risk Assessment Questionnaire and the provider’s certification.

Print it before your medical appointment and fill in your personal information at the top: full legal name, contact details, and any district-issued ID number. That leaves your provider free to focus on the clinical sections.

What Happens at the Appointment

The form must be completed by a licensed healthcare provider — a physician (MD or DO), physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or registered nurse.³ Your personal doctor, an urgent care clinic, or a community health center all qualify. Some LAUSD school sites have offered free TB testing for volunteers in the past, so ask the school first before paying out of pocket.

The Risk Assessment Questions

Your provider administers a short questionnaire covering three areas:³

TB symptoms, including prolonged cough, coughing up blood, fever, night sweats, unexplained weight loss, or excessive fatigue.
Travel or birth history: whether you were born in, traveled to, or lived at least one month in a country with elevated TB rates. That generally means anywhere outside the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Western and Northern European countries.
Close contact with anyone diagnosed with infectious TB.

If every answer is “no” and your provider agrees no risk factors are present, no further testing is needed. The provider signs the certificate and you are cleared.⁴ A “yes” on any question triggers a skin test or a blood test.

Skin Test

The Mantoux tuberculin skin test is a small injection in your forearm. You must return to the same provider between 48 and 72 hours later for the reading. Miss that window and the results are invalid; you start over.⁵ The provider must record the induration in millimeters. A bare “positive” or “negative” without the millimeter reading will get the form rejected.³

Blood Test

An Interferon-Gamma Release Assay, usually QuantiFERON-TB Gold or T-SPOT, needs only a single blood draw and no return visit. The lab report attaches to the form. The blood test is preferred if you have ever received the BCG vaccine, which is routine in many countries outside the U.S. BCG can trigger a false-positive skin result but does not affect the blood test.⁶⁷

If Your Test Comes Back Positive

A positive result does not disqualify you. It means you need a chest X-ray to rule out active TB disease, taken within six months before your hire date for new applicants. If the X-ray is clear, your provider signs the certificate confirming you are free from infectious TB and notes the X-ray date.³ After a documented positive test followed by a clear X-ray, you are permanently exempt from future risk assessments and only need symptom reviews going forward.⁸

Filling Out the Certification Section

Incomplete forms are the single most common reason LAUSD sends them back. Before you leave the office, confirm your provider has filled in:

The date the skin test was placed and the date it was read, or the date blood was drawn.
The numeric result — millimeters of induration for a skin test, or the attached lab report for a blood test.
A checked box or written statement confirming you are free from infectious tuberculosis.
Provider signature, printed name, license number, and office contact information.

Review every field for legibility while you are still at the office. Keep a copy for yourself before you submit the original.

Submitting the Form

Employees and Contractors

Send the completed Form 8478 to:³

LAUSD Employee Health Services – TB Compliance Program
333 S. Beaudry Avenue, 14-110
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: (213) 241-6326
Fax: (213) 241-8918
Email: employeehealth@lausd.net

Mail the original, fax a copy, or email a clear scan. If you fax or email, call to confirm receipt. Faxed documents occasionally disappear in the queue, and that is not something you want to find out close to your start date.

Volunteers

Volunteers upload the form through the online volunteer application at volunteerapp.lausd.net. The portal prompts you for a scan or photo during the application process; LAUSD recommends having the certificate ready before you start.² Make sure every signature, date, and test result in the image is readable.

Watch the 30-day deadline: all required documents must be submitted within 30 days of opening your volunteer application, or it will be denied.⁹

How Long Clearance Takes

For employees, Employee Health Services verifies the form and updates your clearance in district records so hiring can proceed. Missing or illegible fields trigger a resubmission request and add time.

Volunteer timelines are longer because the fingerprint-based background check runs alongside TB clearance, and the fingerprint process alone can take up to 30 days.¹⁰ Some school sites have reported overall volunteer approval taking up to six weeks.¹¹ Once approved, volunteers receive a temporary badge by email valid for 30 days while the permanent badge is processed.

What It Costs

If the risk assessment alone clears you, the only cost is the office visit. When testing is needed, a Mantoux skin test typically runs $50 to $175 out of pocket without insurance, counting both the placement visit and the reading. A QuantiFERON blood test is generally $90 to $200, with lab-to-lab variation. A chest X-ray after a positive result is an additional expense.

The Affordable Care Act lists TB screening as a covered preventive service for adults at higher risk, so many insurance plans cover it with no copay or deductible when you use an in-network provider.¹² Check with your plan before the appointment, and ask your school whether it offers free TB testing for volunteers.

Renewing Your Clearance

TB clearance is not permanent. California law requires employees who tested negative or had no risk factors to repeat the TB risk assessment at least once every four years, and a school district’s governing board can require it more often on a local health officer’s recommendation.⁸ Renewal uses the same process: a new risk assessment, testing if indicated, and updated Form 8478 submitted the same way as the first one. The exception is anyone with a documented positive test and clear chest X-ray on file, who only needs symptom reviews from then on.

Transfers and Other Exemptions

If you are transferring from another California school or district, you can skip the process by producing an existing TB certificate showing you were found free of infectious TB within 60 days of your original hire, or by having your previous school verify a certificate is on file. Short-term non-certificated employees whose work does not involve frequent or prolonged student contact may be exempt at the district’s discretion, and employees who file a religious-belief affidavit stating they rely on prayer for healing and believe themselves free from infectious TB can also be excused.⁸

For questions about the form, submission status, or renewal timing, contact LAUSD Employee Health Services at (213) 241-6326 or employeehealth@lausd.net.¹³

1
Los Angeles Unified School District. Forms – Employee Health Services
2
Los Angeles Unified School District. LAUSD Volunteer
3
Los Angeles Unified School District. Tuberculosis Certificate of Completion
4
California Department of Public Health. Tuberculosis Control Branch – TB Risk Assessment
5
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. TB Skin Test (Mantoux Tuberculin Skin Test)
6
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) Vaccine for Tuberculosis
7
California Department of Public Health. California School Employee Tuberculosis Risk Assessment
8
California Legislative Information. California Code EDC 49406 – Examination for Tuberculosis
9
Academy for Enriched Sciences Elementary Magnet. Parent Volunteers
10
Los Angeles Unified School District. 2025-2026 Los Angeles Unified Guide to Volunteering
11
Los Angeles Unified School District. Cantara Street Elementary – Volunteer
12
HealthCare.gov. Preventive Care Benefits for Adults
13
Los Angeles Unified School District. Contact – Office of the Chief Medical Director