COVID Holiday Spike Cancels Classes For Cambridge Public Schools

CAMBRIDGE, MA — The Cambridge Public School District canceled classes for the first two days of the school week following the holiday break.

On Friday night, the school district canceled all classes on Monday, Jan. 3, and Tuesday, Jan. 4, to allow time to test teachers, staff, and students for COVID-19, the interim superintendent said.

Burlington and Lexington public schools also canceled school on Monday to allow more time for testing.

More coverage: Burlington Cancels School Monday Amid Unprecedented COVID Surge

This action comes even after the state provided districts with 200,000 at-home rapid antigen tests to be distributed to staff for self-use before returning to school.

The Department of Education and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley said the effort was one of the ways officials are working to keep students in classes as COVID-19 cases continue to climb.

The DESE said the effort was to encourage school employees to take one of the tests at least 24 hours before returning to work.

Those tests were supposed to arrive Friday but were delayed due to national shipping issues.

In Cambridge, students can get tested for COVID-19 at the high school or one of three elementary schools in the city Monday.

Testing will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and does not require an appointment, however, all students younger than 18 need parental consent to be tested.

Parents and guardians can give consent for their child to be tested through the Family Portal or by signing a paper copy of this form.

More on Patch

• Some MA Schools Delay Reopening For COVID Testing