AGAWAM — Agawam school officials decided last week to discontinue the COVID-19 Test-and-Stay program and contact tracing, and instead begin weekly at-home antigen tests for all staff and students in kindergarten through grade 12. Symptomatic testing in schools will continue.

The decision is part of a statewide effort, announced Jan. 18 by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), to equip local school districts with free at-home tests instead of testing asymptomatic close contacts daily in schools. Though the state is paying for the tests, school districts and individuals will have to opt in. State officials believe the at-home testing system will help schools more “effectively respond” to COVID-19, while maintaining in-person learning.

“This will enable school health staff to spend more time and resources identifying symptomatic individuals and focusing on other aspects of COVID-19 management,” DESE said in a statement last month. “Schools must continue to participate in symptomatic and/or pooled testing in order to take part in the new at-home test program.”

During the Agawam School Committee meeting on Jan. 25, Superintendent Sheila Hoffman said that the decision to adopt the new program was made by Hoffman herself, Cheryl Salomao, assistant superintendent, and Robert Clickstein, school business administrator. They reviewed the proposal and also sought the advice of the town’s Board of Health.

“The goal here is to further optimize in-person learning for our students,” said Hoffman. “We will provide staff and students who choose to be part of this program an at-home test to take regularly, weekly. In addition to that, we will provide symptomatic testing in our schools if a staff, student or individual becomes symptomatic during the day,” said Hoffman. Those who are symptomatic but test negative may remain in school.

Parental consent is required for both the at-home and in- school testing options. Hoffman informed the community that these are two separate consents, meaning a parent may consent to one option, but not the other.

All staff and students who opt in will test every Wednesday before school or work.

Individuals will receive a kit that contains two tests, used for two consecutive weeks. Distribution to staff and students will be staggered every two weeks. The tests are provided by iHealth.

Individuals are asked to inform their school if they receive a positive test result. Hoffman said results aren’t required to be reported on a weekly basis, unless they are positive. Positive results will be reported to DESE on a weekly basis. Once the school is notified, it may also track an infected individual’s isolation time.

This new testing model will be an option through April 22. At that time, DESE and the Department of Public Health will observe and reevaluate the data and test results. Depending on their findings, Hoffman said the program could be extended or modified, based on pandemic conditions.

“Our Test-and-Stay program was for unvaccinated individuals who were identified by close contacts in school. If the individuals were asymptomatic, they were able to test before school each morning and if their test was negative, they were able to go to school instead of quarantining,” said Hoffman. This option allowed for students to attend more school, compared to previous protocols.

State data showed that 98.6 percent of the 496,440 results in the Test-and-Stay program were negative for COVID-19.

“In Agawam, out of the 939 tests that were taken from Oct. 13 through this morning [Jan. 25], 97.3 percent were negative,” Hoffman added.
Hoffman noted that after seeing an increase in positive COVID-19 cases following the return from winter break, case numbers have since gone down for both staff and students.

On a national level, DESE said an analysis of test-and-stay programs in California and Illinois reached the conclusion that “individuals identified as close contacts in school are very unlikely to contract or spread COVID-19.”
Closer to home, Connecticut and Vermont have recently transitioned from individualized contact tracing to the use of at-home test kits, putting more focus on symptomatic testing.

Hoffman said families will be receiving information regarding the new testing model. Additional information can be found at www.doe.mass.edu.

Kindergarten screening

Kindergarten screening is coming up, including a district-wide parent information night 6-7 p.m. on March 2 at Robinson Park School. The snow date is March 3.

“Kindergarten screenings will be held at the four elementary schools in March,” said Hoffman, along with more information to follow at parent information night, and at www.agawamed.org.