Hanover Public Schools Update on COVID-19 Protocols 9/27/21

Hanover H

This message has three important updates:

  • The latest DESE guidance related to masks in school was released earlier this afternoon by DESE and the information is available below in this message.
  • An update on our current testing program is provided below.  We are pleased to report that our process is keeping more students in school who would otherwise be in quarantine, and that our pooled testing results are showing little evidence of COVID-19 present in our schools within the population of staff and students being tested.
  • The Hanover School Committee is amending the agenda for this Wednesday’s School Committee meeting (7:00 PM at Hanover High School and Zoom) to focus on this latest DESE guidance and how it affects our schools in Hanover.  The previously planned agenda items will be moved to a meeting to be scheduled in the near future.  

Latest Guidance

Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley announced that he will extend the mask requirement for all public K-12 students, educators, and staff (originally scheduled through October 1st) through at least November 1st. However, middle and high schools with at least 80 percent of their students and staff vaccinated will have the option to lift the mask mandate by submitting documentation of the vaccination rate to DESE by October 15th.  At this time, there has been no date announced for optional masking in schools with student populations that are presently too young to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.  

The Commissioner stated that as of October 15, 2021, if a school demonstrates a vaccination rate of 80 percent or more of all students and staff in the school, then vaccinated individuals in that school would no longer be subject to the mask requirement.  Under this updated statewide guidance, unvaccinated students and staff would be required to continue wearing masks.  View additional information about the DESE Policy on Vaccination Rate Threshold.  DESE will continue to work with medical experts and state health officials to review and consider additional metrics to determine when individuals in schools would no longer be subject to the mask requirement.

These announcements are currently under evaluation by the Hanover School Committee, the District Leadership Team, and local health officials.  We fully understand that there are many unanswered questions, and we are working on obtaining more information regarding the options that may be available to the School Committee and the District on how to best move forward.  The two most frequently asked questions related to today’s guidance have been; 1) will there be a date when our younger students (and staff in those schools) will have a mask “option” and not a mandate, and 2) if the middle or high school reaches the 80% threshold, and the School Committee decides to elect the “optional” approach to masks in school, how will the district enforce the mandate for unvaccinated students and staff to wear masks if they do not want to?  These are difficult and challenging questions, and every school district in Massachusetts is looking for answers as I write this message.  Right now, we don’t control those answers and we ask for your patience and grace as we continue to gather information so that we can make informed decisions.  There will be an opportunity for public comment at the School Committee meeting on Wednesday evening, and you may submit written comments to our Feedback Forum that are regularly reviewed by the School Committee and District Leadership Team.  

If more information becomes available in the meantime, it will be shared with our school community in advance of the meeting.

Sincerely,

Matt Ferron
Superintendent  

COVID-19 Testing Update, September 27, 2021

From Patricia Smith, Director of Health Services

I am writing to provide you with an update on COVID-19 testing strategies in our schools.  All three of our testing strategies (symptomatic, routine pooled testing, and test and stay) have been up and running since September 1st.  After three weeks of “test and stay” monitoring, we have found no positive cases from 86 in-school close contacts.  And, after 1,604 individual tests in our Routine COVID-19 Pooled Testing program, only one individual tested positive, and that case did not appear to be associated with school exposure.  Our initial testing data is consistent with our findings from the 2020-2021 school year.  It is unlikely that we will have zero positive results over the course of the year, especially as we begin to relax some mitigation strategies down the road, but our hope is that we will be able to monitor potential spread through rigorous testing, and that our numbers remain low.

It is important for our families to know that testing supplies (for test and stay) are allocated to each district based on the number of students and staff who have submitted consent.  In order to ensure that we have enough supply and capacity to grow the program over the winter months, we ask parents/guardians and staff consent to testing as soon as possible if they feel they may wish to participate in any part of the testing program. 

You may complete your consent form for you or your child by logging onto the Aspen home page, and clicking “Initiate” under the COVID-19 Testing Consent heading.  We encourage families to consider participating in all three testing strategies, but you will also have the opportunity, at the end of the consent form, to choose any combination of one, two, or three testing strategies.

Routine COVID-19 Pooled Testing

Routine COVID-19 Pooled Testing helps us to find asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic positive cases, who may go on to inadvertently spread COVID-19 to others.  This strategy is used to reduce the spread of COVID-19 at school, among family members and in the community.  Keeping cases in our schools and community low is an important measure to keep schools and extracurricular activities open and to maintain a healthy environment.

Test and Stay

“Test and Stay” is used to allow asymptomatic students and staff, who are subject to quarantine from a school-based exposure, to attend school and school-sponsored activities during their quarantine period.  Students and staff who consent to participate will have a rapid (15 minute) antigen test every day of their quarantine period while school is in session.  If planning to attend a school-sponsored activity on a day school is not in session, students and staff may have a rapid test at the MIH drive thru or they may take a proctored rapid home test (BinaxNow eMed) as long as supplies are available.  As part of “Test and Stay”, quarantine is still strongly recommended for individuals outside of school settings.

Symptomatic Testing

Students and staff who develop mild symptoms of COVID-19 while at school may have a rapid test in the school health office.  Those who have mild symptoms and a negative test may return to class.  Those with highly suggestive symptoms will be sent home and may return after a negative PCR test.  Positive rapid tests may be confirmed by a PCR test, especially if symptoms are very mild.

Thank you for your continued patience and support as we navigate this next phase of COVID-19.  Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Patricia Smith, BSN, RN, NCSN
Director of Health Services
psmith@hanoverschools.org