Reading Examines Pooled Testing In Schools

READING, MA — The Reading Public Schools is looking into implementing pooled COVID-19 testing for staff and students during in-person school weeks.

The testing method involves mixing several test samples together in a batch and testing the pooled sample for the coronavirus. If a pool comes back positive, everyone in the pool will be tested individually, enabling health officials to isolate cases.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will fund pooled testing until March 28, after which districts would be responsible for securing their own funding. Proponents say this testing method is a more efficient and cost-effective strategy.

"The program is less expensive than large-scale individual testing because it requires only a fraction of the analysis," Tufts University President Tony Monaco said in October. The university facilitated pooled testing in Medford and Somerville.

Current testing yielded fewer positive cases last week than in previous weeks, Superintendent John Doherty said. Here's how the cases broke down:

• 2 RMHS Student-Remote this week, no quarantine of staff or students
• 2 Middle School Students (Parker)-Remote this week, no quarantine of staff or students
• 4 Elementary Students (2 Killam, 1 Birch Meadow, 1 Barrows)-2 in person and on the bus and 1 remote
  • 40 Students and 5 Staff Quarantined
• 1 RMHS Staff Member, no in school exposure
• 1 Killam Staff Member, 1 Staff member quarantined due to close contact