January 24. 2022 --
Dear Medfield Families,
I am writing to let you know, in collaboration with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Department of Public Health (DPH), we are updating our COVID-19 Testing Program to include an at-home testing program. In addition to this new at-home antigen test option, we will continue with pooled testing and symptomatic testing during the week. This new at-home testing opportunity is voluntary and only those who opt-in will receive tests. Please complete the opt-in form by Wednesday, February 2, 2022, so we can distribute tests for the weekend of February 5th. More information regarding distribution will be sent out next week.
As part of this shift in the program, we are discontinuing "Test and Stay" and contact tracing for in-school close contacts. Statewide data and Medfield data both show over 98% of "Test and Stay" tests have been negative and our student vaccination numbers at all levels are greater than 95%. If you are a potential close contact in school, you may continue to come to school and do not have to quarantine. At the elementary level, we will continue to send home classroom letters informing parents their child may be a close contact. For more information about this update to the statewide testing program, please click here.
Important information about this program:
About the Test: iHealth is a 15-minute at-home FDA-approved rapid antigen test
Opt-In: To participate, you must opt-in by completing the opt-in form.
Weekly: Every two weeks you will receive an iHealth at-home rapid test kit. Each kit contains two individual tests. You will administer one test each week on Saturday or Sunday.
Reporting Positive Test Results: If you test positive on an at-home antigen test, you will report the positive result by notifying your school nurse using this form. We will keep the results confidential and will not make individual results public. In addition, it is strongly recommended that you inform your healthcare professional of the positive result.
Easy, Free, and Flexible: This test is administered at home (not at school), reducing the time to administer tests and increasing your flexibility to do testing in the home for free.
If you have any questions directly related to our testing programs, please contact our Lead Nurse, Kathy Thompson at Kthompson@email.medfield.net
Sincerely,
Jeff Marsden
Jeffrey J. Marsden, Ed.DSuperintendent
Medfield Public Schools
508-359-2302
Follow me on Twitter @JeffreyJMarsden
#medfieldps #medfieldpln