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In Hampshire County, the Northampton School District announced that it will be staggering the return to classes for students to allow for the start of pool testing.
According to district officials, Northampton High School and JFK middle schools will be open as planned on Monday, Jan. 3 and pool testing will be conducted.
Bridge Street, Jackson Street, Leeds, and Ryan Road elementary schools will not be in session on Dec. 3 and will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 4 to conduct pool testing.
Officials said that the school district will be instituting its “surge protocol” for testing and contact tracing as students return to school.
The district will also be providing KN-95 masks for all district staff, which will be required for students and staff members through at least Wednesday, Jan. 5 as they await test results that were dispatched on Sunday, Jan. 2.
Students and staff are expected to wear these masks through January 5th while the district waits for test results. Test kits were sent to faculty and staff on Sunday.
“Th protocol was developed jointly by the Northampton Public Schools and the Northampton Public Health Department to handle the increased demand of contact tracing during periods of increased positive COVID cases in schools,” they stated.
“The surge protocol may be initiated at the discretion of the superintendent or director of health services when there is an increase in cases district-wide.”
As part of the protocol, through at least Tuesday, Jan. 18, attendance at Northampton Public School athletic events will also be limited to immediate family members of student-athletes.
“Thank you for your continued support of our efforts to maintain the safety and continuity of learning in our community,” Superintendent John Provost said in a statement. “We know that everyone has sacrificed so much during the pandemic.
“We sincerely believe these measures will give us the best opportunity to manage the current surge while maintaining high-quality learning experiences for our students.”
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