Board of Health Decision Criteria

Local Metrics for Wayland School Opening or Closure (FINAL) September 30, 2020

The Wayland School Committee (SC) requested assistance from the Wayland Board of Health (BOH) with creating local metrics for decision making regarding Wayland School opening, closing or continued operation during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The following are among the local metrics proposed for use by the BOH:

I. Activity Metric #1-3 (State metrics*)

1. Two Week Case Count: Total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days in the State, Boston, Wayland and surrounding communities.

2. Average Daily Incidence Rate per 100,000: Incidence rate for the past 14 days calculated per 100,000 people and then averaged over the past 14 days for average daily rate in the.State, Boston, Wayland and surrounding communities.

3. Percent Positivity: Total number of positive molecular COVID-19 tests in the last 14 days divided by the total number of molecular COVID-19 tests in the last 14 days in the State, Boston, Wayland and surrounding communities.
   

II. Wayland School compliance with Covid-19 protocols as evaluated by the School Department

1. School social distancing

2. Mask use

3. Hand hygiene

4. Grade/Class cohorting

5. Distancing on buses

6. Parental attestation of student health
   

III. Other Variables

1. Wayland School Covid surveillance testing program

2. Wayland's ability to conduct contact tracing and case tracking

3. Characteristics pertaining to the identified Covid-19 cases (symptomatic or asymptomatic, school vs community).

4. Color codes of adjacent communities based on the state metrics

5. Events or large scale potential exposures in Wayland

6. Functioning of the School Ventilation System as assessed by the Wayland Faciltiies Department

Decision Making:

The process is iterative and requires judgment by utilizing a holistic perspective of information gathering to make an informed decision. This is the process employed within public health around communicable disease investigation.

All protocols and metrics will be examined collectively by the Town Administrator, School and Health Departments, in consultation with the BoS, BoH, and SC (or a designee of) and a recommendation will be made to the School Superintendent on opening or closing Wayland schools.

Before a final decision is made on a school or district closure, the superintendent must consult with DESE for further guidance.

In an emergency situation, the School Superintendent would make a decision about school closure in an expeditious manner in consultation with the Town Administrator, School and Health Departments and to the greatest extent possible, in consultation with the BoS, BoH, and SC (or a designee of).

Please note this is a living document as DESE**/MDPH guidance is regularly updated and metrics will also change and need to be updated.

Appendix

*State MDPH metrics: https://massgis.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=9f5b8ae8d0e24a1b98c55f704aaa24f3

**DESE Protocols for Responding to COVID-19 Scenarios, July 17, 2020 (Updated September 14, 2020): http://www.doe.mass.edu/covid19/on-desktop/protocols/