Results from a recent survey conducted by the Safer Teachers Safer Students Collaborative group in Newton, reveals 95% of the 1,244 families who responded support surveillance testing to complement the back-to-school public health measures currently in place. See press release.
Parent Survey shows 95% of respondents support surveillance testing in Newton Public Schools
by Amy Sangiolo | Oct 7, 2020 | Newton | 22 comments
95% of parents also support class sizes with fewer than 10 student, that are taught by teachers who won the Nobel prize.
@Jeffrey Pontiff – The difference is that there are no other nearby public schools systems with 10 student classes and Nobel winning teachers.
@Jerry
No other nearby public school systems are doing anything like actual surveillance testing.
Wellesley had a proposal to do so, but only raised enough money to do a one-time, voluntary baseline test.
Watertown is only testing its staff.
The question is moot without the follow ups of (1) who pays for it; and (2) what do you want to give up in exchange for it?
(the answers as currently posed are: somebody else and nothing)
I would add that most private schools are not testing at all.
I’ve said this on many threads but I’ll say it again – we are simply too far down this crazy road for the teachers and subset of parents to simply come to their senses and get back to school. If “surveillance testing” is the price we have to pay, then let’s pay it. Whatever needs to be cut from the city budget to accommodate this folly, start cutting it.
Testing is a waste of $$$. The majority of symptom-free people who have been tested and diagnosed as Covid-19 positive with no illness involved. Stop contact tracing and wasting money on having children tested.
“Hunger Biden” – it’s especially important to know who is Covid-19 positive but asymptomatic because those are the ones people are most at risk of catching the virus from. Asymptomatic people are contagious, and you want them to not be in places with lots of people until they are no longer dangerous to others.
^ That should have read “Hunter Biden”. Typo was unintentional.
I have nothing against surveillance testing, but blogs like this make me uncomfortable for two reasons.
First,our kids are not in school. Most private schools are back and most of our peer districts are back. This has nothing to do with surveillance testing, rather the incredible failure our city’s leaders. We need to focus on getting the kids back to school ASAP.
Second, claims like “95% of familes want surveillance testing” might be used as cover for the hapless leaders. I don’t want it to be an excuse. Most parents’ first priority is to get the kids back to school. Period. Their second priority is to get them back to school with surveillance testing. The survey failed to illuminate the priority ranking.
@Hunter Biden: You know the rules. No sock puppeting. Please don’t.
This survey indicates that 1244 families responded. There are over 12,000 students in NPS not sure how many families equals but I’m guessing the respondents are a relatively small % of the families that exist. Many people are going to say testing sounds like a good idea without realizing the potential trade offs. Would the 85% of HS parents who responded to NPS that they want their kids back in school be supportive of testing if they knew that lack of testing might prohibit getting the kids back into school? Would the people who support testing because they hear other towns are doing it be supportive when they realize that Wellesley which has 4,700 students was trying to raise $3.5M whereas we have over 12,000 students? I am also afraid that our inability to test will be used as another delay in getting the kids back in school.
Goals of the proposed Newton pilot testing program –
1.Collect data to evaluate if public health measures are limiting viral transmission in schools.
2. Help stop silent outbreaks from asymptomatic/presymptomatic transmission.
3. Set up infrastructure to allow for more widespread surveillance testing as costs come down.
It was never clear to me who comprises the membership of the SAFER TEACHERS, SAFER STUDENTS COLLABORATION, and that is why I never filled out the survey. It only says a group of physician/scientist parents.
Also, was this survey even well constructed as a tool with statistical veracity? I am not a statistician, but I ask the question since many people look at surveys and accept it as gospel.
How is this something that the district can afford? NPS can’t afford it and having this become a PTO fundraiser only ensures that kids in schools like Zervas and Angier get tested.
Mary,
If masks and socially distancing work as advertised there is no need to test healthy children, period. However if such testing is the key to getting the teachers back in school, then the city will have to prioritize paying for it.
In 2019 the city of Newton spent over $100 million dollars on non-school related expenses. I think we can find a few hundred grand for some tests. Furthermore, one of the key reasons our kids are not in school now is because certain populations indicated they were less likely to attend. If we had to close the entire school system for “equity” you can be sure that the few Waban families left in the public school system won’t be allowed to pay for their own tests.
@BruceC I also found it weird that it is not specified who the people are behind the survey. I tried to search for the group and did not come up with any specific info except one article mentioned Kristin Ardlie, a scientist at the Broad Institute.
@MMQC the money requires to fund a rigorous testing program would be well above what any PTO could raise. Unless you found some incredibly wealthy benefactor who would have to donate to the school system as a whole.
The Broad Institute is charging $35-50 per test. I believe we have approximately 14000 students, faculty and administrators in the schools so that would be $490,000 to $700,000 per test administration IF we could get a lab to do the testing at a comparable rate. If testing is done weekly, that would be $4.9 – $7 million for 10 weeks of testing alone. And on top of that I expect there would be additional costs for the administration of the tests – we can’t expect school nurses to swab thousands of kids.
Over the course of the full academic year that would be many, many more millions of dollars that aren’t budgeted.
Clarification – the numbers I referenced for the Broad Institute have been reported as what it charges colleges and universities which have arranged for testing by the institute. Whether it or another lab would be willing to provide testing to public schools at a similar rate is an unknown.
Start somewhere. Watertown is testing the faculty. Why not start there? If a teacher is infected, you know what smaller group needs to be tested – that class – so that we have a real shot at preventing an outbreak that shuts down a whole school.
I continue to hear parents say that they know in school instruction won’t last long, but even a few weeks would be good for the kids. When I ask why would the schools shut down again, there’s silence because of course, they know it’s because people have gotten sick. And of course, the assumption is that it’s not their kid who gets sick.
Time to stop the whining and get back in the classroom.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/schools-arent-superspreaders/616669/?utm_source=feed
If you’re referring to NPS employees, no one is whining.
There are a few factual inaccuracies that should be corrected here:
1) Private schools ARE absolutely testing. Not all – many are back without testing (waiting for a case, or local positivity rates to change things), but an even larger number are back with ‘some’ testing (including our local private schools). I asked three current vendors who are providing tests if they are are providing them to private schools and the answer is absolutely YES – they are providing them to many MORE private K-12 schools currently than public schools. ‘Some’ testing means the same as the rest of us – largely teachers/staff, and a %age of kids (simply because we are not yet at the do-it-at home $2 test, with easy ability to test students).
2) Local town testing inaccuracies – Wellesley ‘did’ conduct baseline testing of all consenting students and staff, exactly for that purpose – to determine a baseline. The found several positives that they were able to act on BEFORE going back in to schools (ALL of their schools). BUT their pilot is still ongoing – they are continuing to test all staff, weekly, for a 10-12 week pilot, funds permitting.
Watertown – testing all staff once weekly for a 12 week pilot initially (longer if further funds available). Weekly testing numbers have increased given the demand from staff.
Arlington – testing staff weekly (Tues or Thurs) – no end date.
3) who are the ST SS – essentially these are “towns”, and a growing number of them with broad community support, and many un-named parents writing documents to make testing happen. In Newton our group numbers ~20-30 physician/scientist/parents. We can certainly provide names, but those don’t really matter. What really speaks volumes is that Newton is the one town, among a growing number in the coalition whose Superintendent has NOT engaged in any discussions (despite repeated invitations), has not been in any meetings, has done the utmost to quell any discussions on this topic within our town.
Yes @Kristin —
“What really speaks volumes is that Newton is the one town, among a growing number in the coalition whose Superintendent has NOT engaged in any discussions (despite repeated invitations), has not been in any meetings, “. We are also the one town with NO Plan for in person learning in the high school. The Superintendent is taking surveys, forming committees with no sense of urgency to get the kids back in school.