Some Schools Requiring Testing After Spring Vacation Week

As the April school break kicks off in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, families are being asked to revisit guidelines for testing and quarantining before students get ready to return to school.

In Massachusetts, some schools are following the state’s lead and recommending testing or quarantining only for returning students and staffers, but others are keeping it as a requirement.

Milton Schools Superintendent James Jette estimates as many as 300 families in his district are traveling this break. WCVB-TV reports he said the town will offer testing late in the week for students to receive results before classes resume.

He said some parents may be upset or disappointed that the district is keeping its requirement for testing and quarantining.

“But the alternative is even more upsetting,” he said.

In Rhode Island, most schools are following guidelines adopted by the Department of Health for students who return from out-of-state travel. Residents returning from a list of 26 states with a positivity rate of COVID-19 greater than 5% will be required to quarantine for 10 days while in Rhode Island.

Instead of that, though, they can provide proof of a negative test for COVID-19, taken within 72 hours prior to their arrival in Rhode Island.