School committee approves stricter COVID quarantine and testing rules; pool testing seen as costly

The Blackstone‑Millville School Committee voted on Jan. 14 to approve amended COVID‑19 close‑contact and travel protocols that require testing to permit an earlier end to quarantine.

Karen Vernon presented the revised guidance: state travel guidance had shifted from a 14‑day to a 10‑day quarantine after travel to a high‑risk state; the proposed close‑contact policy would allow a person to come off quarantine after 10 days if they had a negative PCR test at day 5 or later and were symptom‑free. If symptomatic or untested, the full 14‑day quarantine would still apply. Vernon said she would change the written protocol language from "should" to "must" to reflect the testing requirement.

Chair Jane Reggio put the amended protocols to a vote; the motion was moved by Matt Ernworth and seconded by Sarah Williams and carried by voice vote.

Vernon reported operational data to the committee: the district health offices had handled more than 900 staff and students for testing/contact tracing this year, with about 50 confirmed positive cases and roughly 300–325 close contacts since the start of the school year. Committee members asked about in‑school testing logistics; Vernon described pool testing as labor‑intensive (requiring swabs from all students/staff in a cohort), with an estimated ongoing cost of at least $5 per test after initial weeks and additional follow‑up testing steps if a pooled sample is positive.

The committee also discussed vaccine timing. Vernon said school nurses and some first responders had been eligible and that educators were tentatively expected to be included in the February–April window, though she cautioned the schedule was uncertain and likely to shift.

The vote formalized the amended protocols; the policy text will be updated to require testing language and distributed on the district website and by email.