Masking at Grafton High, Middle School will be determined by vaccination status

Grafton schools have had 24 positive cases of COVID-19 reported since opening for the new school year on August 31, an increase of 10 in the past two weeks.

Superintendent of Schools Jay Cummings told the School Committee Tuesday that the district is looking into the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s revised mask mandate policy. While students and staff are required to continue wearing masks until November 1, DESE announced Monday that middle and high schools with 80 percent of their students and staff vaccinated will have the option to lift the mandate by submitting an attestation form to the department on October 15.

“We will need to collect vaccination records,” Cummings said. Additional vaccination clinics may also be arranged at the schools.

In the meantime, students will continue to wear masks and be tested at school as part of the Test and Stay Program, which allows students to remain in school after a confirmed exposure if they are asymptomatic and are negative for Covid. A new revision to that program: fully vaccinated contacts are not eligible for testing, and any close contacts outside of the school will not be tested.

Cummings said the nursing staff has been working around the clock on Covid protocols, in addition to their usual duties, and two additional LPN positions have been posted.

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