DESE will not recommend universal mask requirements, COVID surveillance testing in schools this fall
BOSTON -- The state will not be recommending mask requirements or COVID surveillance testing of asymptomatic individuals in schools this year. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released its updated coronavirus guidelines for schools on Monday.
"This upcoming school year, districts and schools should focus their COVID mitigation strategies towards vulnerable and symptomatic individuals," a memorandum said.
Contract tracing and test-to-stay programs will no longer be provided by the state. Districts and schools can still implement their own COVID testing systems but must handle staffing and supply logistics on their own.
"DESE and DPH strongly recommend that schools and districts interested in implementing their own testing program during the 2022-23 school year limit that program to symptomatic rapid testing."
New exposure guidelines also said students who were exposed but are asymptomatic can remain in school.
Robin Brooks-Rodriguez has a 5-year-old entering kindergarten, and she's also a middle school teacher in Framingham.
"If the numbers do go up, I would feel safer if we did go back to masking, personally," she told WBZ-TV. "I do think surges could be back and we don't know what will happen with new variants, so I think the testing is something that we should stay on top of."
As Malinna Ly watched her sixth grade daughter play Monday afternoon, she didn't seem at ease with the return to normalcy, even as Tatiana Ly recalled the good and bad of not covering up.
"Masks help you a bit not to get COVID, and. . . also it's hard to breathe," Tatiana Ly said.
The state said it'll support kids who want to wear a mask, but Madeline Nichols will start fifth grade in Ashland without one.
"I think it's going to be OK," her mother Sydney Nichols said.