Telstar Middle School

Dear MSAD #44 Families,

MSAD #44 will be adding a new strategy to our COVID-19 prevention measures this year: voluntary “pooled testing” in grades PK-12. Pooled testing will be an important part of keeping classrooms safe and will greatly reduce the amount of days any student will need to be out of school in quarantine. For more information on pooled testing from the company we will be working with, click here. Pooled testing is slated to begin in mid-September. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions about this program.

FACTS ABOUT POOLED TESTING:

• Students participating in pooled testing will not need to quarantine from school if they are considered close contacts of a positive case, as long as they do not have symptoms.

• The COVID-19 test is non-invasive and easy to self-administer. Students simply place a swab just inside each nostril. 

HERE IS HOW POOLED TESTING WORKS:

• One day per week, each student who is enrolled in the program will do a self nasal COVID swab in class. Each child will be given a swab, and they will put it just inside each nostril, and then all the swabs will be placed in one testing tube. 

• The tube will be sent to a lab. In about 48 hours, the school nurse will see the results of the test. If the tube, or “pool,” is negative, nothing needs to be done. The class will continue to be tested on a regular weekly basis. 

• If a tube is positive, each person in that group must have another test. The school nurse will do a rapid “BinaxNOW” test at school. Each student that has a negative “BinaxNOW”  test can return to class. 

• Any student who is positive must stay in the isolation area of the nurse’s office and their parent will be notified. The parent must come to school to pick up their child. 

REGARDLESS OF ENROLLMENT IN POOLED TESTING OR VACCINATION STATUS... If a student/staff member tests positive for COVID-19, they will have to follow the quarantine guidelines outlined by the CDC. Student/staff members must stay home if they experience any signs or symptoms or a fever of 100.4 or higher.  Student/staff members will not be allowed to return to school unless they are fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication and symptom-free for 24 hours.

IF VACCINATED, REGARDLESS OF ENROLLMENT IN POOLED TESTING… If identified as a close contact, students/staff will not have to quarantine and can remain in school. It is important to remember that if vaccinated you can still carry the virus. We suggest enrollment in pooled testing even if you are vaccinated.

IF ENROLLED IN POOLED TESTING & NOT VACCINATED… If identified as a close contact, students/staff will not have to quarantine and can remain in school.

IF NOT ENROLL IN POOLED TESTING & NOT VACCINATED… If identified as a close contact, students/staff will have to follow the quarantine guidelines outlined by the CDC.

Pooled Testing Consent Information

Pooled Testing Slideshow

Parent Information Sheet

Sincerely, Rosemary Wiser, MSAD #44 District Nurse