There is currently no COVID-19 testing taking place in Harvard’s schools, but a small group of parents has been working to find a cost-effective way to do weekly testing of staff and students. While testing costs typically range between $100 to $200, parents Liz Ruark and Toby Bazarnick recently proposed that the schools consider the less expensive option of pooled testing offered by a handful of companies in the U.S. The company currently under consideration is Miramus, which offers a pooled test for about $20 per person.
Superintendent Linda Dwight asked the Board of Health for its opinion on using Miramus’ pooled tests in the schools. At its Sept. 30 meeting, health board Chair Sharon McCarthy told the board she had reached out to Massachusetts Department of Public Health epidemiologist Katie Brown regarding the Miramus pooled test. Brown said the test has not yet been certified by the Food and Drug Administration, so she could not offer any judgment.
Ruark and Bazarnick, who attended the meeting, said each pooled test would consist of 24 saliva samples pooled together. In a pooled test, further testing is needed only if the pool is positive, which lowers testing costs. McCarthy said Brown was also concerned about the number of samples in the Miramus pool, because she knew of only three other companies doing pooled testing, and they used three to four samples per pool.
Board of Health member Libby Levison said that unless testing is done every day and the school gets fast results, it’s only useful as a surveillance tool. McCarthy said testing wouldn’t change the existing protocols, and she added that if it is voluntary, there would still be a risk from the children who were not tested.
Health board member Chris Mitchell said the school already has good protocols in place and asked why the group wants testing. Ruark said parents want it, and she cited a poll conducted by Dwight and Harvard Teachers Association President Melissa Niland. In that poll, about 80% of teachers and parents whose children are attending hybrid classes said they would participate in testing. Bazarnick added that some testing is better than none, even if it was done only for the staff, who are the most vulnerable population in the school.
Levison said she worried that testing would give people a false sense of security, causing students and staff to let their guard down with masks and social distancing. Ruark agreed that the process would have to include messaging indicating that current protocols would still need to be followed.
McCarthy said the bottom line for her is that the board consists of three volunteers, and they need to follow Massachusetts Department of Public Health protocols. She added that the board is not in a position to give an opinion on a test that “people with a lot more experience than us” aren’t ready to weigh in on. “I have no doubt this could be an effective tool, but we’re not there yet,” she said.
Mitchell said the board has only been asked for its opinion; the school can do whatever it wants. Levison said that should the schools choose to go ahead with testing, the board would want to be involved with messaging. “It’s just one more tool in the toolkit, not a silver bullet,” she said.
Ruark told the Press she is keeping both Dwight and the School Committee apprised of the group’s findings, and she has also spoken to the Harvard Schools Trust and the PTO about possible funding. Those discussions are still underway, she said.
