Wayland Considers Coronavirus Testing For Public School Students

WAYLAND, MA — Wayland may join the growing number of Massachusetts school districts testing students and teachers for coronavirus.

The Wayland School Committee is considering two options for testing in school. Both methods use "pool testing," where small groups of students are tested, with followup testing for anyone who appears to be positive for the virus.

At least five local districts, including Wellesley and Watertown, have banded together to create the "Safer Teachers, Safer Students: Back-to-School Testing Collaborative," and several other districts are looking to join.

According to School Committee Vice Chair Ellen Grieco, the two types of testing the district is looking at would come at a high cost. A system that uses an at-home saliva test followed by a more stringent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for anyone who tests positive would cost $560,000 through February. A second system that uses nasal swabs followed by PCR testing would cost about $400,000 for the same time period, but would also require the district to hire medical professionals to conduct the tests.

Grieco said the district would raise the money from parents. The testing would be conducted weekly, and would be voluntary. A survey of about 1,200 Wayland parents found about 85 percent in favor of the school-level testing, Grieco said.

There have been multiple coronavirus cases in Wayland schools this year under the district's hybrid learning model. The high school and middle schools went remote on Nov. 2 due to exposures, and the Wayland girls field hockey team began a two-week quarantine on Oct. 29 due to a case on the team.

As of Nov. 6, there were five students and two staff members who had tested positive for the virus so far this year, according to the Board of Health.