Salem Schools To Offer Students Weekly Coronavirus Testing

SALEM, MA – Salem Public Schools plan to offer weekly coronavirus testing for all students by the end of the month in an effort to provide as much in-classroom learning as possible for the rest of the school year.

Superintendent of Schools Stephen Zrike said during his weekly Facebook Live session that testing – which is currently available for staff and high school students – should be available to all students starting after February vacation.

"We think it's the right thing to do to continue to have students in school every day in person," Zrike said.

Salem Schools Chief of Opportunity and Response Chelsea Banks outlined the plan for testing that would be a nasal pool test and not the saliva testing that was used for 1,850 students, staff and families after the holiday break.

The tests will be offered weekly for students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and will include a swab placed inside the nose about a half-inch and swiped three to five times. Students in pre-kindergarten through first grade will have the test conducted on them, while those in grades 2 and above will be allowed to self-administer the tests.

The tests will then be placed in pools of five and tested. If one of the five samples in a given pool is positive, then those families will be notified that they need to get an individual coronavirus test.

"(Pool testing) significantly decreases the cost for us," Banks said. "It will hopefully allow us to test through the end of the year and not just do the one-off tests."

Salem parents and guardians will receive an email soon that will include links where they can register students. Each student must be registered under the school he or she attends.

Banks said the timing of the test at the end of February is to have it in place before any surge from the United Kingdom "mutant strain" of the virus takes place.

Gov. Charlie Baker said after a visit to the Bentley Innovation Academy on Thursday that Salem's aggressive COVID-19 testing was also a good example of showing how relatively safe in-person learning can be.

"All the data and research that's been done has made it pretty clear that with precautions schools are not spreaders," Baker said at his Thursday news conference.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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