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Date: 9/21/2021
HADLEY – The continued delay of the rollout of pool testing for COVID-19 in Hadley schools is proving frustrating to parents and educators alike.
At the School Committee’s Sept. 20 meeting, members of the public voiced concerns regarding several coronavirus-related issues with surveillance testing, or the lack thereof, being among the troublesome topics.
Sarah Pegus, who identified themselves as the parent of a child with an underlying health condition, told the committee during the public comment portion of the meeting that the fact that the program was not available at the start of school was difficult to comprehend.
“I’m really, really disappointed that pool testing didn’t start right away. I don’t know how in three months of summer a company isn’t ready to go, but it was the one thing that made me feel a little better about my kid going back to school,” she said, adding they hope to hear about a start date at the meeting.
Superintendent Anne McKenzie said she was also disappointed and was unable to provide specific information on a start date. She did state, however, that the district had confirmed earlier that day that specimen collection supplies had been shipped and she expected to receive them this week.
“If that comes to pass, we will begin pool testing next week,” she said.
The state opted to utilize one vendor, CIC Health, for the 2021-2022 school year and as a result, the testing program had been delayed. McKenzie stressed that the district has been proactive in its attempts to get the necessary means to begin pool testing and have been equally frustrated.
“I want to be really clear with the public that as soon as we were able to sign up for pool testing in August, we did – we did, as soon as we were able to,” she said. “There has been a myriad of emails in our attempts to get this up and running and I really want to thank Alison Willette and Robin Cycz, two parents who without them this would not be happening because if we also had to wait for the staff from the state to provide us staff to do this, I don’t know how long we would be waiting. So thank goodness we have people working with me emailing the state, reaching out to the state to make sure we have everything we need.”
Willette and Cycz are local registered nurses who have volunteered to lead the pool testing program.
McKenzie went on to explain the change to a new vendor required new software systems even before receipt of the supplies that are reportedly en route.
Committee Chair Humera Fasihuddin asked McKenzie to let the committee know if the committee needed to get involved in order to pursue other avenues to get the necessary supplies. McKenzie said she believed the district had exhausted all options and noted the state is also under strain in implementing programs statewide, but if either the state or CIC Health become non-responsive, she would enlist the committee’s help.
“I know that the state is working as hard and as fast as they can,” McKenzie said. “All schools now have this option, including private schools and the vendor is also working furiously.”
Responding to support for vaccine mandates in schools voiced during public comment by community members Emily Pfeiffer and Rachel Briggs, McKenzie explained that due to President Joe Biden’s executive order, all employers with more than 100 employees would soon be legally compelled to require vaccinations or submit to weekly testing.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has yet to deliver rules and guidance on implementation of the president’s order and also noted the School Committee would have to engage in impact bargaining with the Hadley Education Association, the union representing the town’s educational staff. Committee members Paul Phifer and Ethan Percy volunteered to form a subcommittee that would conduct the bargaining sessions.
“With impact bargaining, just so the public is clear, it’s not that labor organizations get to decide whether we implement laws … it’s a change in working conditions and we have to have a conversation about that, even if the Hadley Education Association is majority and largely in favor. And I think if you look at our vaccination rates among our faculty and staff, they are very high,” McKenzie said. “So you can see the majority are very much in favor, but it is required … we can’t just unilaterally make a change to working conditions without having a conversation with labor.”
Parents also raised questions about masking, windows being closed on buses and lunch protocols.
According to Pfeiffer, they have observed and other parents have confirmed that windows have not been open on school buses as they are supposed to be. They noted that if the windows were not open and a child on the bus tested positive, all of the students on that bus would be considered close contacts.
Pfeiffer and Briggs additionally expressed a desire to have masking continue even if the district achieves the 80 percent vaccination rate by Oct. 1 in accordance with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) mask order. She noted the county is still considered at high risk of transmission, according to the metrics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The state’s mask guidance states that districts may be eligible to allow its vaccinated school community members to unmask if 80 percent or more of the students and staff are vaccinated after Oct. 1. McKenzie stressed that nothing would happen automatically and if the district still managed to hit DESE’s prescribed targets, it would have to apply for permission to discontinue the masking requirement for vaccinated persons. Further, she said as of Sept. 20, DESE had not provided information on that application process or the metrics that would be needed to attest to vaccination rates.
“Even if Oct. 1 date is, in fact the date the commissioner decides to continue with, they haven’t even issued us how we would go about demonstrating 80 percent and making that request,” she said.
She also noted the Board of Health had recommended masks in Hadley schools and in the past, the School Committee and district leadership have deferred to them on health-related matters. She said changes in procedure would be discussed with “any relevant parties.”
McKenzie also said she would ask Five Star Transportation, the district’s bus service, to reminder drivers about opening windows but also went on to praise the company for what she believes is overall strong service.
“I want to say that our transportation provider, Five Star, has been our provider for a very long time. I am in no way indicating that it’s acceptable when these things don’t happen in the manner we’d like them to, but I just want to publicly say how much I appreciate Five Star,” she said. “In many districts across the commonwealth, the governor has had to call in the National Guard to transport students because there simply aren’t enough bus drivers. I am extraordinarily grateful for how quickly Five Star responds within minutes of when I email. They pick up the phone and they certainly want to give us a high degree of customer satisfaction.”
Briggs also said they hoped to see more specific language to encourage lunches and snacks being conducted outside. She said the term “when possible” is too ambiguous and as a result, outdoor eating to prevent spread of the virus has not taken place to her satisfaction. They indicated her child in kindergarten reported never eating outdoors. McKenzie said supervision of students outdoors may also be subject to impact bargaining. She explained outdoor eating was able to take place last year because a one-year agreement had been in place. With that said, she indicated she would add the topic to the agenda for her leadership team meeting taking place later in the week.