Marlborough schools end test-and-stay, opt into weekly home test program

MARLBOROUGH -- January 25, 2022, Marlborough drops test-and-stay, will send home weekly rapid tests to opting-in students and staff. The School Committee voted Tuesday to enroll in the state's new program from DESE, DPH and EOHHS, ending in-school contact tracing in exchange for two-test kits distributed every two weeks. Superintendent Michael Bergeron said cases have fallen from 181 on Jan. 6 to 51 on Tuesday, and Director of Health Services Jody O'Brien reported that school nurses were unanimous in backing the switch because test-and-stay yielded few positives for "way too much" staff time. Members declined to anticipate the state's Feb. 28 mask deadline, holding the local mandate at least through a March 8 policy review. The committee also accepted Bergeron's July 1 resignation "with sadness," and approved a $1.2 million special education transfer reflecting an Assabet Valley Collaborative procurement change that bars charging transportation to the IDEA grant.