December 11, 2020 Updates

 Dear North Reading Public Schools Community,

I'm writing today to provide a few important updates that were discussed at last evening's School Committee meeting related to COVID-19 communication, testing, the influenza vaccine, and our Performing Arts classes and activities.

COVID-19 COMMUNICATION

As you are aware the district has been in the practice of sending an email update for any new positive cases for staff or students. As the numbers increase it is important that we continue to communicate this information to you but I am concerned about "fatigue" from receiving so many of these important emails. However, it was decided at the meeting last night that these emails would continue as they ultimately provide everyone in the community the information needed to make decisions for their families.

In addition, we have published a dashboard to provide the updated numbers of positive staff and students by school. This information is on the District Website under the COVID-19 Updates page and also available directly here.

To date, to my knowledge, we have not had any signs of transmission in our schools. When we communicate that a staff member or students has not been in school recently, this is meant to assure those in that school community that there is not a need for contact tracing in the schools related to that case. In other circumstances, if the staff member or student has been in school, there is a need to contact trace and possibly quarantine individuals who are within six feet for a period of 15 minutes.

We will be following the latest science and updates from the Department of Public Health and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with respect to the quarantine periods required for those close contacts and positive cases. As always, thank you to our school nurses for sharing this information with all close contacts and positive individuals and providing the support to everyone involved.

COVID-19 TESTING

Thank you to everyone who participated in the feedback survey and viewed the informational presentations this week. The support from educators and families was about 85% in favor of the district taking the additional steps to pursue the BinaxNOW Antigen Testing. Given that the costs associated with these steps are very low (the tests themselves will be available at no cost) the School Committee approved the district to to the explore the next steps to join the Phase 1 of this testing trial. More information and details will be forthcoming with the hope of implementing soon in the new year.

The most important aspect to communicate is that this test will only be used for symptomatic individuals and it is still critically important that students and staff who are not feeling well must continue to remain home. This message will be reiterated as we move forward with this process. We will also continue to pursue any other future opportunities related to testing. 

INFLUENZA VACCINE FOR STUDENTS

Thank you to everyone who has already provided the updated influenza vaccine information to our school nurses. If you have not done so already please be sure to have this information to our school nurses no later than December 18, 2020. There is an existing mandate requiring all students to receiving the influenza vaccine prior to December 31, 2020. There are certain medical and religious exemptions that can be discussed with your school nurse as well.

PERFORMING ARTS UPDATE

​​​At the secondary level our performing arts courses (chorus, band, etc.) have been conducting most of their classes outdoors in order to comply with the safety guidelines from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and National Music Associations. As the weather conditions make it impossible to continue outdoor learning on most days we have worked with the K-12 Curriculum Leader, Carla Lister, as well as Allison Kane and other performing arts educators as a part of our Fine Arts subcommittee to develop the safest practices and procedures for conducting these activities indoors. We have identified the spaces and necessary safety precautions to continue our performing arts classes indoors following all guidelines for physical distancing and other restrictions. These classes will begin indoors on December 14, 2020 in carefully identified areas and we do not anticipate any concerns related to this well researched endeavour. Thank you our Performing Arts educators, especially Ms. Lister and Ms. Kane, for their very thorough and detailed work on this process which will allow all of our students to continue with these performing arts opportunities.

As always, thank you to everyone in our school community for their continued support and patience throughout all of the challenges this fall as we continue to provide the best supports possible for our students.

Be well,

Dr. Daly