EAST BRUNSWICK – East Brunswick Superintendent of Schools Victor Valeski educated parents about the East Brunswick Public School District’s new voluntary coronavirus testing program.
“The purpose of this program is to identify COVID-19 positives early and begin quarantining so we can protect the rest of our student and staff populations,” Valeski said in a prepared statement. “This is important as we continue to plan for greater frequency of face to face instruction for our hybrid learning model students early in the second marking period.”
Valeski said parental and staff permissions are being sought for the random COVID-19 testing program pilot with Middlesex County. Parents and guardians can access the forms for their children on Parent Access. A separate letter and form will be sent to the staff.
“If you are an athletic parent this piece of information will be important to you. I am aware of rumors circulating throughout our community about the future of athletics in East Brunswick,” Valeski said in the statement. “I have not made any recommendation to modify, alter, suspend or discontinue any athletic offering. There is no vote scheduled before the board and none can be taken without a recommendation from me.”
Valeski said he monitors data that supports his decisions. As he stated in a recent media report about athletics, it is his responsibility to keep the Board of Education informed. As he has shared with the board, to date among 673 athletes, the school district has not had a single student athlete to athlete COVID transmission, he said in the statement.
“So why is this important? As we are about to begin winter sports season with indoor practices and competitions, adhering to our established athletic safety protocols, without exception, is the only way we can successfully continue our path to our full recovery of all school activities,” Valeski said in the statement.
“Imagine it like this … our excellence in academics, athletics and arts surrounded by an atmosphere of trust in each other that we will continue the safety practices and rapid self-reporting we have established to protect everyone’s health,” Valeski said in the statement. “If we do that, we will continue to accomplish the improbable … because we are East Brunswick and that is what we do.”
For more about the district’s pilot COVID-19 testing program, visit messages/attachments/6ad7432fc1dad49974df9d390ceb07db/Voluntary_COVID-19_Testing10142020.pdf.