College Students Are Coming Back: What It Means For Newton

NEWTON, MA — College students are coming back to town, even as the pandemic has prompted other colleges and universities across the state to scale back in-person learning options.

Read more: Latest MA Coronavirus Report: 303 New Cases, 11 Deaths ...

It's prompted a "smattering" of emails and calls to Newton City Hall, including some concerned about a football practice happening at Boston College.

"This is very much on all of our minds," Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller told Patch Tuesday. "Normally, as September rolls around it's an exciting time to imagine college students coming back, this year it's accompanied by some anxiety."

Newton is home to Boston College, Lasell University, UMass Amherst at the Mt. Ida campus and Hebrew College, all of which are starting to reopen in the next few weeks.

Although they have no authority to approve or oversee college reopening plans, officials at Newton City Hall have been paying close attention and has been in contact with both Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, which has also been watching the reopening at Boston College, as well as the college itself and the other colleges within the city.

Newton's city officials have been in frequent touch with the colleges in an effort to understand the wide range of their policies practices and procedures, including testing, isolation, health care, what steps they are taking if student behavior is not aligned with COVID-19 safety practices, both on and off campus, said Fuller.

Boston College is particularly top of mind because it represents one of the largest student bodies, among the colleges within city borders and students are moving in this week.

"They definitely have all sorts of protocols in place," said Fuller. "I think Boston College has appropriate measures in place."

Read more: Boston College To Resume In-Person Classes This Fall

On Monday, the school hosted its first round coronavirus testing, for staff and students and it went smoothly, according to the school. Some 2,277 tests were administered.

Testing for faculty and staff, graduate and professional students and undergraduates arriving early or living off campus will continue throughout the week. Then next week testing for undergraduates living on campus get underway, followed by undergrads living off-campus.

Rather than bringing everyone back all at once, Boston College has a staggered move-in, bringing students back over a two week period, asking them to arrive in two hour windows, during which they are required to get tested. Once they're tested they receive an arm band and some bagged meals and are asked to stay in their home until the test results come back within the next 24 hours.

The school is asking that students take tests regularly after that, and is teaming up with a Harvard research facility that will help them get tests results back in as little as an hour or two.

The school has asked its returning students to sign a pledge swearing they would not hold parties, either on or off campus, in addition to other measures in an effort to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.

In addition, several news outlets reported that Boston College plans to hire Boston Police to patrol areas off campus, where students might be tempted to hold parties.

Fuller said if residents see something that concerns them about the students, they should send emails to Boston College as well as Newton's health and human services department.

"All the institutions for higher education in Newton all have invested heavily in policies, procedures, practices to be able to open their doors," said Fuller. "Am I still a little worried? Yes. It does concern me having so many people coming back into the state and into Newton."

As of Aug. 18, out of the 114,786 people who had tested positive in the state, 8,617 people have died. In Newton, as of Aug. 17, 860 people have tested positive for the coronavirus since the onset of testing began. Of those, 127 had died as of Aug. 11. Many of the cases were among older adults in Newton and across the state until recently, when the number of people who test positive for the virus has gone up among people in their 20s, according to state data.

In neighboring Boston, City Councilor Liz Breadon has criticized the opening plans for Boston College and Boston University, asking just how schools will ensure off-campus students will comply with the same requirements as students living in dorms —from quarantines to contact tracing.