The Baker-Polito Administration has finally announced a plan for broad COVID testing of public school students, teachers, and staff. It will begin in about a month. Local higher education institutions, and some local K-12 systems, realized last summer that broad testing of students and faculty was necessary to safely re-open face-to-face education in the fall.
Why it’s taken the Baker-Polito Administration this long to figure out that a similar COVID testing approach was necessary for K-12 education is a mystery. We all know kids learn best with face-to-face instruction and the Administration has been pushing communities to re-open schools. But parents, teachers, and students deserve to know if being in school is safe. They also need to know what steps will be taken to protect them if a member of their school’s population is found to have COVID.
The Administration’s testing program will be free for the first six weeks. Why it isn’t free until the pandemic is over is also a mystery. Local school districts are strapped for money with all the extra costs the pandemic has imposed on them. The estimated cost to the state of the free testing is $15 – $30 million. While the state is facing its own fiscal challenges, this is less than 0.1% of the state budget, i.e., $1 out of every $1,000 spent. The Administration just found over $600 million to aid businesses, so finding a fraction of that to support our schools doesn’t seem like a lot to ask. Moreover, if schools re-open, it will help businesses as parents will be better able to work. In addition, it would mean parents will be earning and spending more money, which will stimulate the economy and help businesses.
This announcement by the Baker-Polito Administration is long overdue. Local school committees, school administrators, and teachers have been asking the state for months for a broad COVID testing program. Such testing is necessary for the safe re-opening of schools, which will help us all get our lives and our economy back on the road to normalcy. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/08/metro/baker-says-coronavirus-pool-testing-will-be-made-available-all-schools-mass/