Weston schools open with universal masking, expanded testing under Delta surge

WESTON — August 25, 2021 — Weston schools open Sept. 1 under a Board of Health mask mandate and a new state-funded testing platform. District nurse leader Jamie Gaynor told the School Committee on Aug. 25 that vendor CIC Health will deploy three to six technicians daily to run weekly pool screens, symptomatic rapid antigen tests and a new "test-to-stay" program allowing asymptomatic close contacts to remain in school after five consecutive negative daily tests, regardless of vaccination status. Last year's model produced 170 in-person days with no in-school transmission and 97 total positive cases on 7,354 PCR tests, Gaynor said. Public Health Director Michelle Schuckel said the Delta variant now infects five to eight unvaccinated contacts per case and that the town logged 27 active cases in the two weeks ending Aug. 14. Finance Administrator Sherry Matthews confirmed the high school's voted FY22 budget dropped three FTEs and $165,887 from the January draft.