NAHANT ― After the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) announced all Massachusetts schools will be required to continue to follow the mask mandate, the town’s only school has gone one step further.
The School Committee announced Thursday that there will be a new COVID-19 testing option for students and teachers as well as a mask mandate in place until at least Jan. 15 at the Johnson Elementary School.
The new protocol of symptomatic testing will allow students and teachers to get tested if they show symptoms they received while in school.
Superintendent of Schools Tony Pierantozzi reassured the School Committee on Thursday that this was the best direction to go in.
“This will keep staff and students in school,” he said.
As of Tuesday, there was only one recent case of COVID-19 in Nahant. There have only been four cases total in October. None of these four cases are in connection with the school.
School Committee Chair Regina Laine stressed the importance of the qualifications for this type of testing.
“It’s important to differentiate that it’s not just that the close contact has to be in the school, but the actual action of close contact has to be in school,” said Laine.
Symptomatic testing refers to symptoms that start during the school day, and not outside of school hours. The committee stressed that if a student is brought to school with symptoms, they will be sent home.
“The protocols we’ve established with your (School Committee) guidelines should reduce the number of close contacts from any source,” said Pierantozzi.
DESE’s announcement on Tuesday extending the K-12, public-school mask requirement, pushes the end of the mandate out three months, until Jan. 15; it was originally set to end on Nov. 1.
“Masks remain a simple and effective measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep students in school safely,” said DESE Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley in a statement.
Pierantozzi was confident in the implementation of symptomatic testing as a supplement to the mask mandate.
“It’s just one more tool in our tool belt to keep the school open and kids in school,” he said.
