On July 30th, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Department of Public Health (DPH) released a joint memo on COVID-19 Guidance for Districts and Schools – Fall 2021. As outlined in the memo, all schools are required to be in-person, full-time, five days a week for the 2021-22 school year, and all previously released DESE health and safety requirements are lifted. In addition to outlining recommendations for school and district policies on masking, the memo also previewed new COVID-19 testing and quarantine response
protocols for schools.
This document outlines the testing and quarantine response protocols for SY 2021-22. Districts and schools also received information about how to sign up for this school year’s statewide COVID-19 testing program. Districts may continue to sign up throughout the school year if they are not yet participating.