Brookline Teachers Union Pushes For Surveillance COVID Testing

BROOKLINE, MA — The teachers' union is asking Brookline Public Schools to follow the lead of neighboring communities like Wellesley and Newton and perform free voluntary random coronavirus tests on students and faculty to help prevent a potential silent outbreak and build confidence in a return to school.

"We believe that with regular and routine testing of staff and students with or without symptoms, we can provide the safest possible learning environments for students and educators," said Brookline Educators Union President Jessica Wender-Shubow in a statement. "Because contact tracing has limited efficacy and the number of coronavirus cases in our communities is high, we believe that aggressive surveillance testing is the best option, along with increased ventilation, mask wearing and social distancing, for safer in-person learning."

And although the school district and town have been working to find ways to test staff, the union says that's not enough. The union is circulating a petition to educators and supporters calling for free, widespread surveillance COVID-19 testing and better reporting.

The union is pointing to Wellesley's pilot program as an example of the benefits of pool surveillance testing. Pool testing can flag the presence of the coronavirus within a test group and trigger more individual testing.

The union is asking the district for consistent, transparent reporting of coronavirus cases in schools, with the information easily accessible to all members of the public. For now, individual schools are sending emails to the school community.

More comprehensive and detailed reporting will allow the administration, union and community to understand how the pandemic is effecting our schools and how to minimize risk, the union said.

Testing requires additional time, planning and infrastructure. School officials said any undertaking would have to partner with health and human services or a hospital.
And then there's funding.

Wender-Shubow said that community foundation funds and private donations should be used.

“Brookline has always supported its public schools and the BEU is confident that the community will make sure that this COVID-19 initiative is successfully carried out,” she said.

In Wellesley an educational non-profit has been raising funds for its program. In Newton, parents sent out a survey that asked parents if they would donate, and a "significant number" indicated a generous willingness to donate to cover the costs of a pilot study, Patch previously reported.

Patch has reached out to the Brookline Health Department and the superintendent for comment.

Related:Newton Public Schools To Offer Free Coronavirus

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.