Superintendent’s Report to the School Committee, October 20, 2021

COVID Case Update

As of October 20, 2021, Masconomet has the following number of reported COVID-19 Cases:

	September	October	Total
High School Students	15	3	18
Middle School Students	2	2	4
Faculty	1	1	2
Totals	18	6	24

Our case numbers continue to remain low relative to September:

Week of:	Cases
9/8/21 – 9/15/21	8
9/16/21 – 9/22/21	6
9/23/21 – 9/29/21	3
9/30/21 – 10/6/21	2
10/7/21 – 10/13/21	3
10/14/21 – 10/20/21	2
Total	24

COVID Vaccination Rates as of October 19, 2021

Mask Mandate Remains in Place

Since Masconomet have not reached the 80% vaccination threshold, we are not eligible for a waiver from DESE to allow vaccinated individuals to attend school unmasked.  The current mask mandate is in place through November 1^st.  DESE Commissioner Jeff Riley has told us that he will be announcing his decision early next week as to whether this mandate will remain in place past November 1^st.  We will continue to update our vaccination information and work with the Boxford Board of Health regarding any plans relative to masking. 

Test and Stay and Symptomatic Testing Programs Update

As of October 19, 2021, we have administered a total of 29 tests under the Test and Stay Program to 18 individuals.  Under Test and Stay, unvaccinated individuals who are identified as in-school close contacts of a COVID-19 positive individual are allowed to remain in school as long as they take a daily COVID-19 test and follow other health and safety protocols.  We have had no positive test results through the Test and Stay Program. Our relatively high vaccination rates have created a situation where we have very few unvaccinated in-school close contacts who are eligible for Test and Stay when we do have a COVID-19 positive individual in the building.

On October 5^th, we also began testing individuals who develop COVID-19 symptoms during the school day through DESE’s Symptomatic Testing Program.  Between October 5^th and October 19^th, we have tested 45 individuals who were symptomatic in school, with only one positive result.  This individual was sent for a PCR test, which ultimately produced a negative result.  These two testing programs, Test and Stay and Symptomatic, provided by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education have proved to be a valuable tool in ensuring the safety of our students and staff.