February is already here and the Public Schools of Northborough Southborough are busier than ever. They are working diligently to plan the next steps to have students safely return to in-person learning four days a week. The plan will phase in elementary school students first with a tentative date of March 23. Middle and high schools will follow. The plan is based on COVID-19 data and continuing all the safety protocols already in place.
A key component to the return is for weekly pool testing for students and staff. This will be a PCR test and will be done as a take home test to be returned to the school. Parents can sign up their child to participate in this testing online. It will ultimately be more successful with a high percentage of participation.
Pool testing helps to screen students who may be asymptomatic and potentially exposing others without knowing it. It is a quicker and less expensive way to test. Individual samples are bundled at the lab for testing. Each member of the pool will be retested individually if there is a positive result within that pool. The retest will not require a new sample to be collected.
A Zoom webinar geared towards K-5 families is being held on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 6-7:30 pm. Registration is required as there is a 1,000 participant maximum.
View the proposed timeline for the return of students.
View the COVID-19 Dashboard.