Free Covid-19 testing for all asymptomatic, in-person staff of the Arlington Public Schools will be available Friday, in an effort first announced in late August as twice weekly, but not yet fully put into effect.
“all teachers were notified of free testing for Covid this Friday.”
— Kathy Bodie
In an Oct. 6 email update, Superintendent Kathy Bodie told YourArlington.com that “all of the teachers were notified of free testing for Covid this Friday, and all are eligible to sign up for the test.”
She declined to address several other questions posed about the free twice-monthly testing that had been expected by both the School Committee and the Arlington Teachers Association.
The Sept. 24 meeting drew anger from the head of the teachers’ union and the committee, in a rare case of immediate agreement. In contrast, it took weeks of negotiation – into the start of the school year Monday – for that organization to reach a memorandum of agreement, as announced earlier at the meeting. The accord is an addendum to the contract addressing changes caused by the impact of Covid-19. Read it here >>
A series of questions were sent to school and health officials, but only Bodie has responded to date.
The School Committee next meets Thursday, Oct. 8, at 6: 30 p.m.
Questions sent to 5
Queries were sent to Christine Bongiorno, town head of health and human services; Cindy Sheridan-Curran, court liaison/attendance officer/diversion coordinator; Jane Morgan, School Committee chairwoman, Julianna Keyes, president, Arlington Education Association; and Bodie. The questions are:
- When, how and by whom was the commitment made for twice-weekly free coronavirus testing for teachers and other Arlington Public School personnel?
- What is the full name of the entity that was expected to do the testing, and where was such testing supposed to occur, what days and what hours?
- Did such testing occur? When, for how long? (One week is what we have heard.)
- Why was it not continued?
- Can twice-weekly free testing be restored? Who would do it? If so, when?
Bodie made the commitment to twice-weekly testing at the Aug. 31 School Committee meeting. See the ACMi video of the meeting, starting at 2:27:40.
Bodie: “What about the Covid testing for teachers? So, over the weekend a survey was sent out to teachers and staff, just to find out whether they’re interested in getting a test. And I want to echo what Liz Exton said, very few communities are doing this. And this is expensive, and I want to thank the Town of Arlington for being willing to do this, because this is a free service to all of our teachers.
“But, anyway, we will get the results back this evening that will allow the Board of Health to order the tests that they need to have, and then also we’ll decide on… right now we’re planning on three sites, but we may not need three sites. We’ll see …. [at 2:28:20] But the other important part about the testing is that it’s going to be ongoing. So, Arlington teachers can make an appointment at Armstrong Ambulance two days a week, on Tuesday, Thursdays, after school to arrange for a test. So, that is in place and again I think it’s commendable that the town has devoted its resources to doing this.”
Board of Health role
The Board of Health was responsible for the testing, and it would have been conducted by Armstrong Ambulance.
That testing plan did not move forward immediately, and the committee directed the superintendent at its Sept. 24 meeting to make it happen. A testing session has been scheduled for Friday.
An Oct. 5 memo to staff from Robert Spiegel, the public schools’ human-resources director, says:
“APS IN-PERSON staff will have access to free in-district Covid-19 testing on Friday, Oct. 9.
“ONLY AVAILABLE to asymptomatic staff who are working in-person and as a necessary function of duties interact in-person with students or other staff.
“In order to qualify for testing you must be registered and if already registered in the Concentric system from the last test must login and register for a new test. In addition the following form must also be submitted by Tuesday at 4pm ….
“If you have tested positive for Covid in the last 90 days do not take this test ….
“Testing is optional for in-person staff; it is not mandatory ….
“Testing day details will be disseminated via e-mail on Wednesday [Oct. 7]. These details will include the time and location of the testing, which will be a district school, but may be a different school than the one in which you work as there will be three locations in the district for the testing on Friday.”
The memo refers to a first round of tests in September. That occurred before the opening of school, on Sept. 21. In the first week of school, Peirce was put on full remote after a staff member testing positive.
Allison-Ampe responses to Covid issues
For the Sept. 24 School Committee meeting, an agenda document dated Sept. 22 reports responses to questions from School Committee member Dr. Kirsi Allison-Ampe, as prepared by Natasha Waden, of the town Health Department >>
The responses say: “Ongoing testing of teachers and staff who have direct contact with students is being discussed with the Superintendent.”
From the five-page document under the subhead “Testing,” it says:
“The Health Department worked with the School Department to provide voluntary testing of teachers and staff prior to the opening of school. These results were available within 48 hours but could take up to 72 hours. Ongoing testing of teachers and staff who have direct contact with students is being discussed with the Superintendent. Testing of students is not recommended by the CDC nor is it feasible at this time.
“However, DESE and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) have created an option where local school officials, both public and private, in consultation with public health authorities, will be able to request a state-sponsored mobile rapid response unit to test a group of students and/or staff when a potential cluster of Covid-19 cases has been identified and transmission occurred within the school.
“More information regarding this program can be found on the DESE website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/covid19/. Additionally, free testing which is open to all Massachusetts residents is also available at any time through the “Stop the Spread” testing program. This program has been organized by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and allows for anyone (contacts or non-contacts, and individuals with or without symptoms). Information about this program should be shared with teachers, staff, and families in the event that they are looking for additional testing options. More information about this program can be found here >>”
Sept. 25, 2020: Lack of Covid testing spurs vote to rectify issue
This news summary by YourArlington freelancer Judith Pfeffer was published Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020.
