Massachusetts orders high schools to resume full-time, in-person learning by May 17
By James Vaznis Globe Staff,Updated April 27, 2021, 1:06 p.m.
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Students walked the hallway at Brockton High School.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/file
State Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley on Tuesday announced that all public high schools statewide should resume full-time, in-person learning by May 17, representing the final wave of schools to return.
âEvery day a child is in a classroom is crucial,â Riley said in a statement. âIn addition to academic instruction and support, we know when students are in school, they have the opportunity to learn important social and emotional skills, and have access to healthy meals as well as mental health and other support services.â
COVID-19 pool testing in Mass. schools seen by some as national model
Katie Lannan
State House News Service
BOSTON In January, when the Baker administration announced a new pooled COVID-19 testing initiative for K-12 schools, Education Secretary James Peyser said technological advances had enabled the state to take our testing program to the next level.
Three months later, with 185 of 400 school districts participating and the state now planning to pick up the tab through the end of this academic year, some of those involved are looking a level beyond, eyeing the Massachusetts program as a potential national model. We ve already had other states ask us if we could replicate the program, said Tim Rowe, co-founder and CEO of CIC Health, one of the pooled testing providers. We re expecting most states, perhaps all states, will do this.
Through the voluntary program that Baker s office has described as a first-in-the-nation pooled testing initiative, participating schools conduct the screenings of staff and students whose parents have given consent at least once a week.
As of March 29, the schools had tested almost 159,000 individuals in 22,679 pools, with a pool positivity rate of 0.76 percent, according to the administration. That same day, the statewide seven-day average positive test rate was 2.57 percent. It s a very low percentage to come back positive, because keep in mind, if you re sick or you think you might have COVID, you re not coming into school, so you re already testing people who are probably not sick, Rowe said of the school pooled testing, in a recent interview.
In January, when the Baker administration announced a new pooled COVID-19 testing initiative for K-12 schools, Education Secretary James Peyser said technological advances had enabled the state to take our testing program to the next level.
Three months later, with 185 of 400 school districts participating and the state now planning to pick up the tab through the end of this academic year, some of those involved are looking a level beyond, eyeing the Massachusetts program as a potential national model. We ve already had other states ask us if we could replicate the program, said Tim Rowe, the co-founder and CEO of CIC Health, one of the pooled testing providers. We re expecting most states, perhaps all states, will do this.