Swampscott Schools 'Business As Usual' Amid Coronavirus Spike

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott Superintendent Pamela Angelakis said this week has largely been "business as usual" with the help of coronavirus rapid tests and some tweaked mitigation measures despite a virus spike in the region and throughout the country.

Angelakis told Patch that rapid tests distributed to staff on Sunday revealed 25 positive cases throughout all departments and student absences were down day over day from Monday to Tuesday.

"It was business as usual yesterday and today in the Swampscott Public Schools," she said. "The district provided an opportunity for faculty and staff to pick up the rapid antigen tests provided by DESE on Sunday morning. We asked that they take the test before noon so in the event they tested positive they could immediately report it to their building principal in order to prepare for staffing."

Angelakis said of the relatively low number of positive staff tests "thankfully, it hasn't prohibited us from opening the schools as regularly scheduled in person."

She told Patch there were 343 students absent from pre-kindergarten through high school on Monday, which dropped to 292 on Tuesday.

"Not all of these absences are attributed to COVID-positive cases," she added. "I suspect some families are erring on the side of caution in these early days back from vacation."

She said some previous mitigations have been reimposed, including schedules with additional lunch periods so students can be distanced and an "open campus" lunch policy at the high school that allows students to eat lunch either indoors in the cafeteria or auditorium or outdoors at an alternative location.

(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.)