Framingham To Offer Free Coronavirus Tests To Teachers

Framingham MA

12 December, 2020

12:27 PM

Description

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Framingham Public Schools this week will likely begin offering free coronavirus testing to teachers and staff working in school buildings, and is in talks with a private foundation to expand testing to students. The district notified staff about the voluntary testing in a memo on Thursday, citing the "increasing level of community spread in Framingham." The district will use nasal swab tests, which are thought to be more reliable than rapid tests, which the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has offered to districts around the state. The testing in December will allow the district to plan for a larger rollout, Superintendent Robert Tremblay told the School Committee in a memo on Friday. However, a long-term testing program will cost millions. For Framingham school staff alone, testing through June 30 could cost as much as $2.1 million. The district can pay for about $1.5 million of that through federal grants, but that leaves $734,000 for the district to pay — and doesn't count the cost to test students. Tremblay, Framingham Health Director Dr. Samuel Wong and Chief Financial Officer Lincoln Lynch will meet with the Shah Family Foundation on Monday to discuss the funding of a student testing program. The testing costs come at a difficult financial time for Framingham Public Schools. During the pandemic, the district has not been able to get federal reimbursements for school meals, leaving the food program $313,000 in the red — and that may grow to $600,000 by the end of the year without federal help. The district has also seen a drop in enrollment this year, a trend seen across the state during the pandemic. With fewer students, it's possible Framingham could see less per-pupil funding from the state in the next fiscal year. Also, Mayor Yvonne Spicer last week proposed taking $800,000 from the FPS budget to help pay down a deficit in the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund. But in his memo to the School Committee, Tremblay stressed a testing program is essential for a safe return to school. The district switched back to all-remote learning on Dec. 7 due to in-school spread of the virus, but may consider returning to a hybrid model sometime in January. "Weekly [nasal swab] testing is a necessary component of our overall return to school effort," the memo said. "Testing, coupled with our risk mitigation efforts like required face coverings, handwashing, and physical distancing, is the manner in which we will be able to restore confidence in our return to school efforts."