Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will stop in Boston Tuesday to discuss best practices for returning to in-person learning as Massachusetts' first-in-the-nation pool testing initiative show low transmission rates in schools.
The visit is part of a federal "Help is Here” School Reopening Tour, highlighting the the Biden administration’s efforts to support states as they navigate returning to in-person learning through the American Rescue Plan.
Secretary Cardona will meet with Boston Mayor Kim Janey and Superintendent Brenda Cassellius for a tour and roundtable discussion at the Tynan Elementary School Tuesday afternoon. He will then visit an educator vaccine clinic in Boston before traveling to Laurel Elementary School in Delaware.
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Cardona's visit comes as pool testing at Massachusetts schools found COVID-19 positivity rates of 0.76%, according to the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker.
The governor's office announced the findings Monday, adding that pool testing would continue to be funded through the end of the school year. State funding was initially set to expire on April 18.
The first-in-the-nation pool testing program began in February. Since then, the Baker administration says schools have tested nearly 159,000 students and staff members in 22,679 pools that each included an average of seven people. In total, 0.76% tested positive.
"Of the collected pooled tests, Massachusetts is not aware of any in which there was more than one positive individual, suggesting that there is extremely little evidence of in-school transmission of COVID-19 in Massachusetts," the administration said in its press release.
State school officials say they hope this data helps those parents on the fence about sending their kids back into the classroom.
