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This individual was in school during the contagious period, (48 hours prior to the day of their symptom onset OR 48 hours prior to the day they tested if they do not have symptoms.) The individual is now isolating according to the GPS Protocol: Gardner Public Schools Protocols for Responding to COVID-19 Scenarios in School, on the Bus, or in Community Settings, and will not return to school until cleared by the Board of Health after completing the required isolation period.
This provides evidence that Pooled Testing is an extremely valuable mitigation strategy. It effectively identified a person with no symptoms and no known exposure to COVID-19 that would have continued to come into the school building not knowing they had COVID-19 potentially infecting others. The more individuals we have participating in Pooled Testing, the safer our schools will be. If you have notsigned up yourstudent for pooled testing, please click here for more information and school specific sign up links.
It is our goal to be completely transparent and communicate all occurrences of COVID-19 positive individuals in our schools. While we continue to report all COVID-19 cases to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), cases do not appear on their report (Positive COVID-19 Cases in Schools) if they have not been in school during the past 7 days.
Please know that the confidentiality of our staff and students’ health information is important, and that we are not able to give information that could identify the individual. We will continue to work closely with the Gardner Board of Health and our District Safety Committee in making decisions regarding in-person vs remote learning. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we continue to navigate through this pandemic, while keeping the health and safety of our school community as our top priority.
Sincerely,
Mark J. Pellegrino, Ed. D.