The school district will be changing its approach to testing teachers, staff and students for covid-19, Superintendent Dr. Kimberly Shaver-Hood announced during the Jan. 20 School Committee meeting.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will provide at-home covid tests for families, faculty and staff, she said. 

“For faculty and staff, (the new testing program) will begin January 21, and for families, it will be January 31,” she explained.

The decision-making process moved quickly. Shaver-Hood told the School Committee she received an email from the state education department on Monday night, asking district officials to attend a Zoom meeting early on Tuesday, Jan. 18. Officials were asked to survey faculty and staff to see if they’d be receptive to the new testing strategy, which will require people to opt in if they wish to receive tests. 

Shaver-Hood explained how it will work: “If you choose to opt in … then every two weeks, you would receive one box, which has two at-home tests in it.” 

Approximately 173 faculty and staff members expressed interest in participating in the program, so Shaver-Hood said she made the decision to switch from the previous test and stay program to this new approach. 

The test and stay program allows those who have been in close contact with someone who had covid while at school to stay in class while receiving daily rapid covid tests. The program tests students each day they are in school in the seven days following the exposure.

The test and stay program is only available for those who were exposed in school.

“The next step is we will be sending notices to families asking if they would like to opt in,” she said. “If they would choose to opt in, they need to sign a form and then every other week we will disperse a test to (the students) to take home.” 

Positive test results will need to be reported to the school nurse, Shaver-Hood said, noting that the district is still required to report its covid-19 case data to the state. 

The new program will last “at least until April 1,” she said. 

Details about how the tests will be distributed — particularly to younger students — are still being determined, Shaver-Hood said. 

Families are encouraged to monitor the district’s website for information about how to opt in to receive tests. 

The first covid tests from the state are expected to arrive on Jan. 24.