Natick Public Schools Issues Mask Advisory Friday

NATICK, MA - The superintendent of the Natick Public Schools late Friday afternoon recommended a return to wearing masks in school after students and staff experienced an uptick in COVID-19 cases since the first week of May.

Superintendent Anna Nolin issued a statement to parents and guardians Friday afternoon that "Natick is joining Belmont, Arlington, Cambridge and Holliston in having this advisory."

"I am issuing a masking advisory for the schools for the next two weeks," Nolin said in a statement. "This is a strong recommendation to mask, as a means to keep us from needing other mitigating measures such as distancing or cessation of large group gatherings and other tactics used in other parts of the pandemic."

While the district has a "flex mask culture," Nolin noted that the wearing of masks is "still one of the best tools we have to stop the spread of COVID-19."

"As with every phase of the pandemic, we must adapt and respond to the twists and turns of this virus and its changes," she said. "The CDC now classifies Middlesex County as a red community of high COVID-19 transmission. For communities in red, the CDC recommends indoor masking in all public settings.

"So, it is no surprise that we see an increase in positive cases in our schools," Nolin continued. "Some schools have seen a 50 percent increase in cases this week, and for some, no increase at all. We are still significantly below our post-December and February break case counts. But cases are on the rise and moving quickly."

At Natick High School, the number of students who tested postive for COVID-19 more than doubled. Twenty-one students tested positive between May 5 and May 11, up from 10 the previous week. At the Wilson Middle School, the number of cases rose from nine to 18 over the same period, with four staff members testing positive.

At the Kennedy Middle School, case numbers climbed to 27 students and seven staff members from May 5 to May 11, up from 13 and five, respectively, during the previous week. At Memorial Elementary School, case numbers rose to 31 students and five staff members, up from 16 students and no staff members the prior week.

At the Brown Elementary School, there were 15 students and one staff member who tested positive for COVID-19. The number of students tripled from 5 the previous week, but the number of staff members declined from four. At the Lilja, the case count held steady at 19 students and two staff members. At the Bennett-Hemenway, student cases rose by five from the previous week to 30, while the number of staff members infected jumped from four to 11.

The Johnson reported four cases this week, up from three the proir week, with one staff member testing positive this week compared to none the prior week.

Nolin added that students who are going to large gatherings, such as prom, trips, and junior and senior cruises mask up so that "someone does not miss out on these memories due to becoming COVID positive."

The superintendent will also institute Tuesday evening robocalls to remind students and staff to conduct their weekly COVID-19 tests and to report the results to their school nurse's office.

For additional information, visit the Natick Public Schools website.

The town's positive COVID-19 test rate is now at 8.21%, according to the latest municipal-level data released by the state's Department of Public Health Thursday. There was a two-week case count of 230.

On Thursday afternoon, the state Department of Public Health reported 5,576 new coronavirus cases and 16 new deaths in Massachusetts. The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 664.1, up from 494.9 last week.

The latest state vaccine report showed the number of fully vaccinated residents rose to over 5.37 million. The state releases town-by-town testing data every Thursday, including the number of people tested, the testing rate, the positive test rate, cases and infection rates.