Letter: 48K School Days Saved. It's Time To Adopt Test And Stay.

MEDFORD, MA — The following open letter was submitted by city councilor and mayoral candidate John Falco.

Dear Friends,

Today the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) reached an important milestone. They announced that more than 48,000 school days had been saved since September by Massachusetts schools adopting the Test and Stay program. Eligible students exposed to Covid-19 were given a choice to quarantine or participate in free testing, providing equity AND a safe testing alternative for students and staff. This COVID-19 mitigation program has been used worldwide since Fall 2020 with great success and even helped identify a problem with air ventilation in an Arlington school, thus preventing more in-school transmission.
On October 1, I implored the Mayor to champion the Test and Stay program in the Medford Public Schools (MPS). As of today, we have no idea where Test and Stay stands, yet we continue to have quarantined students experiencing days and even weeks of learning loss. Even more troubling is that we have students cut off from critical social, emotional, and health support systems they rely on while working parents are forced to make burdensome choices regarding child care, discretionary spending, and employment. The use of this quarantining is no longer justifiable when a safe and proven alternative exists. We need an answer on Test and Stay, and we need it now.

Medford’s Test and Stay Timeline:

July 30, 2021- DESE invites all schools to sign up for the free Test and Stay program.

August 11, 2021- DESE again invites all schools to sign up for Test and Stay and answers these frequently asked questions, including:

● Will all schools and districts receive the additional support services provided by CIC Health? Any school/district that requests other support services from CIC Health
will receive them. If a school/district does not ask for support services at the beginning of the program but would like to add a later time, they may coordinate with the CIC Health program coordinator.

● What role can the district coordinator perform? If requested, CIC Health can provide an individual at the district level to oversee and coordinate COVID-19 testing programs across all schools. While this individual would be an employee of CIC Health or its subcontractors, they would act at the direction of district leadership to deploy the COVID-19 Testing Program at each participating school. This individual could play several roles, including (but not limited to): scheduling testing days at different schools in a district, managing and tracking the consent process, and coordinating the support services provided to schools.

No one COVID-19 mitigation strategy by itself is fool-proof. However, the Test and Stay program, in conjunction with surveillance testing, masking, ventilation, and distancing, is endorsed by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services because it works and keeps ALL students learning and safe. As a city, we must strive to be equitable in everything we do. Let’s start with Test and Stay.

To our students, families, teachers, nurses, staff, administrators, and school committee members — THANK YOU! Educating students during a pandemic is a challenge none of you expected, and you have all risen to the occasion. That is why I again call on the administration to implement Test and Stay without hesitation and give our schools a critical tool to help support our students. Undoubtedly Please know I am very grateful for your dedication and partnership through these challenging and uncertain times.

Best,
John Falco