DESE: More than 50,000 in-person school days ‘saved’ by test-and-stay program

ARLINGTON, Mass. — Alham Saadat’s 8-year-old son missed five days of school last spring because his classmate at Hardy Elementary tested positive for COVID-19.

“It was a pain for our family but my husband and I have flexible work schedules. For families that don’t have flexible work schedules, it’s a real nightmare,” Saadat said.

A couple of weeks into the 2021-22 school year, Saadat said it happened again: her 6-year-old son came into close contact with an infected student. But this time her son didn’t have to quarantine because of the state’s new test-and-stay program.

“It keeps everybody in the building safe, and it also provides families an opportunity to keep their kids in school. It keeps the entire community safe,” Saadat said.

Test-and-stay allows close-contact students to remain in class if they pass a COVID-19 rapid test for five consecutive school days. Massachusetts schools have conducted 49,027 rapid tests, saving 48,547 in-person school days, according to data between Aug. 30 and Oct. 17 from the Dept. of Early and Secondary Education.

“Just having kids in school helps the whole class move forward,” DESE Dep. Commissioner Russell Johnston said. “We really want to make sure that we keep that continuity of learning, that close connection between teachers and students, and it’s really paying off.”

Johnston estimates the test-and-stay program has saved more than 50,000 schools days for kids across the state.

“Right now, [the data show] just over 48,000 [saved in-person days] but we didn’t produce a report last week because of the power outages in certain towns. This week we’ll produce a report that will include this week and last week. That’s why I’m saying 50,000,” Johnston said.

Advocates for the test-and-stay program say the only drawback to test-and-wait is the strain it can put on school staffing. Saadat said if there’s a close contact in a classroom with 25 or 30 other kids, a school nurse may have to administer that many rapid tests at the start of the school day. It’s an issue DESE says it’s working on.

“It is a challenge to make sure we are able to have the additional people in our schools, the trained people in our schools help with this program,” Johnston said.

Gov. Charlie Baker activated the National Guard in Oct. to help schools conduct testing across Massachusetts.

“If a district needs additional staffing we’re making that available free of charge. We’re working to overcome any staffing challenges we’ve seen in the state,” Johnston said.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital pathologist Dr. Michael Misialek said the positives from test-and-stay far outweigh any negatives.

“In my opinion, yes, it is a game-changer,” Misialek said. “It’s quick, it’s easy to do, it’s been proven to be reliable.”

DESE contracted with testing provider CIC Health to provide testing services “available at no cost to participating districts and schools through the end of the 2021-22 school year,” according to the DESE’s website.

“We have met all our staffing targets and hired more than 2,000 people to support school testing and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with our partners at the state to ensure students, teachers and families can remain safe,” a CIC Health spokesperson said.

Johnston said the test-and-stay program will be used for the rest of the school year, and at little cost to Massachusetts taxpayers. The Biden Administration provided the Commonwealth with $210 million for school testing, and Johnston said they’re well within budget.

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