I would like to point out that emails from Lincoln Schools include the disclaimer, "In compliance with MGL C.66, all email correspondence to and from the Lincoln Public Schools is archived and may be a public record." Because of this, staff do not send confidential information or attachments (such as IEPs or testing results) via email and advise parents not to write anything in an email or send attachments that they do not want made public.
So, while emails may be addressed to parents because they are the recipients of immediate concern, they do not contain confidential health information and there is no legal basis for expecting them to remain exclusive to the parent community, and no justification for demanding that they be. I agree with Barbara Low that there is significant public benefit to distributing the "anonymized," summary data about the COVID testing results in our schools and in the Town generally. What is that old advice about never putting anything in writing that you wouldn't want published in the newspaper? The School District and the School Committee member's actions are in line, as is LincolnTalk's permitting the posting. Andrew Pang > On 12/15/2021 3:27 PM Tamika Mayes <tmaye...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Does Lincoln? If so send me the link where everyone can access it. I > don't care about other towns, my child doesn't attend school there. > > Emails intended for parents should stay that way. > > Tamika M. > > On Wed, Dec 15, 2021, 3:22 PM Caitlin Hogue <hogue.cait...@gmail.com > mailto:hogue.cait...@gmail.com > wrote: > > > > I’ll add that many school districts publicly report their > aggregate testing information weekly, as does the state. > > > > Katy > > > > On Wed, Dec 15, 2021 at 3:21 PM Donald Hafner <haf...@bc.edu > > mailto:haf...@bc.edu > wrote: > > > > > > > It would be a violation of HIPPA if the > > information contained the names of individual children who had tested > > positive or negative. Public postings of general information on the test > > results a large school population, where individual information cannot be > > identified nor inferred, is not a violation of HIPPA. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Dec 15, 2021, at 3:09 PM, > > > Richard Panetta <richardpane...@gmail.com mailto:richardpane...@gmail.com > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > I can see the public interest in it but agree with > > > > Tamika’s point that emailing info really shouldn’t be shared with LT. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Wed, Dec 15, 2021 at 2:46 PM Barbara Low > > > > <barbara_...@hotmail.com mailto:barbara_...@hotmail.com > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > As a person with no > > > > children in the school but concern about the spread of the virus, I am > > > > delighted to learn that there were no cases in the school when testing > > > > was done this week. > > > > > > > > > > I am glad the information was provided for all > > > > > readers of Lincoln Talk. > > > > > > > > > > Barbara Low > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------- > > > > > From: Lincoln <lincoln-boun...@lincolntalk.org > > > > > mailto:lincoln-boun...@lincolntalk.org > on behalf of Tamika Mayes > > > > > <tmaye...@gmail.com mailto:tmaye...@gmail.com > > > > > > Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2021 2:42 PM > > > > > To: Susan Taylor <svhtay...@comcast.net > > > > > mailto:svhtay...@comcast.net > > > > > > Cc:http://LincolnTalk.org > > > > > <lincoln@lincolntalk.org mailto:lincoln@lincolntalk.org > > > > > > Subject: Re: [LincolnTalk] Next school COVID > > > > > tests Monday > > > > > > > > > > Isn't the intended for parents only for children > > > > > who participate in the program? Why is this allowed to be posted > > > > > here? > > > > > > > > > > Tamika M. > > > > > > > > > > On Wed, Dec 15, 2021, 1:40 PM Susan Taylor > > > > > <svhtay...@comcast.net mailto:svhtay...@comcast.net > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > We have received all results from this > > > > > > week’s COVID-19 routine weekly testing for the Lincoln PreK-Grade8 > > > > > > campus. No pools returned a positive result this week. > > > > > > > > > > > > Each week, during the course of the weekly > > > > > > routine testing cycle, if any pool returns a positive or > > > > > > inconclusive result, the families of the students in the pool and > > > > > > the staff in the pool will be immediately notified. When all > > > > > > results have been received for the week, all members of the campus > > > > > > community will receive a weekly testing report. > > > > > > > > > > > > Please Note: Because next week is short due > > > > > > to winter break, regular weekly testing will occur next week on > > > > > > Monday 12/20, instead of the normal Tuesday schedule, to provide > > > > > > enough time for pool testing and any necessary reflex testing and > > > > > > contact tracing. > > > > > > > > > > > > Weekly Lincoln COVID-19 Testing Report > > > > > > Test Date: Tuesday 12/14 > > > > > > > > > > > > Test results: > > > > > > 81 pools tested > > > > > > 0 pools returned a positive result > > > > > > 0 individuals returned a positive result in > > > > > > follow-up PCR testing > > > > > > > > > > > > 618 individual pool participants > > > > > > 96% student participation rate* > > > > > > > > > > > > For more information, please visit our LPS > > > > > > COVID-19 Data Dashboard > > > > > > http://track.spe.schoolmessenger.com/f/a/lxDY-T4tcjCgAfwin72yDQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRjm2ZAP0QmaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGluY25ldC5vcmcvY292aWRkYXNoYm9hcmRXB3NjaG9vbG1CCmGywDK6YRsWZmdSFXN2aHRheWxvckBjb21jYXN0Lm5ldFgEAAAAAQ~~ > > > > > > . > > > > > > > > > > > > * Percentage of in-person students who have > > > > > > not tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 90 days who have > > > > > > registered to participate in the pooled testing program. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > > > > > > To post, send mail to > > > > > > Lincoln@lincolntalk.org mailto:Lincoln@lincolntalk.org . > > > > > > Search the archives at > > > > > > http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/ > > > > > > http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/ . > > > > > > Browse the archives at > > > > > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > > > > > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ . > > > > > > Change your subscription settings at > > > > > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln > > > > > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln . > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > > > > > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org > > > > > mailto:Lincoln@lincolntalk.org . > > > > > Search the archives at > > > > > http://lincoln.2330058..n4.nabble.com/. > > > > > Browse the archives at > > > > > https://pairlist9.pair..net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > > > > > Change your subscription settings at > > > > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > > > > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org > > > > mailto:Lincoln@lincolntalk.org .. > > > > Search the archives at > > > > http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > > > > Browse the archives at > > > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > > > > Change your subscription settings at > > > > https://pairlist9.pair..net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln > > > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln . > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > > > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org > > > mailto:Lincoln@lincolntalk.org . > > > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > > > Browse the archives at > > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > > > Change your subscription settings at > > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org > > mailto:Lincoln@lincolntalk.org . > > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > > Browse the archives at > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > > Change your subscription settings at > > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > > > > > > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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