Public Information and Announcements

Beginning this week and moving forward, Covid-19 letters from the district will come out twice per week. This is being done not because cases have lessened—as of today we were up to 196 total cases of Covid-19 in the district—but in an attempt to ensure that other important communications do not go unnoticed. Moving forward, we will provide a Covid-19 update each Monday or Tuesday, and each Friday, depending on case counts. Each of our letters will continue to be posted to our public page, along with the corresponding cumulative data that we have provided over the past two school years. Please don’t hesitate to reach out should you have questions.

Unfortunately today we saw an increase in cases that resulted from at-home exposure over the holiday. This is to be expected as people gather with one another. We want to commend families for keeping kiddos at home when they are exposed to others who are ill or when they themselves are symptomatic. Today was a great example of our parents being proactive, as we had eight new cases of Covid-19 today, but none resulted in quarantine as a result of in-school contact. Although eight cases are a lot, it is impressive that none resulted in quarantine from school.

I’m writing, of course, to provide you an update of the positive cases of Covid-19 that have impacted our schools, our children, and our staff over the past few days. In addition though, I want to wish everyone a very happy holiday, and happy Thanksgiving.

There were a total of six new cases of Covid-19 that district staff have worked through since my last letter; one case at Bloomfield Elementary School, one case at Canaan Elementary School, one case at North Elementary School, one case at Skowhegan Area Middle School, and two cases at Skowhegan Area High School. As a result of these six cases, 10 individuals have been required to quarantine.

There were a total of two new cases of Covid-19 today; one case at Mill Stream Elementary School and one case at Skowhegan Area Middle School. As a result of these two cases, two additional students have been required to quarantine.

Today a parent reached out asking about a text she received claiming that her child had been a close contact. MSAD 54 is not sending direct texts to families for quarantine, we are calling. Maine CDC will send messages through the Sara Alert System, but they will clearly identify the sender. We encourage anyone receiving a message like this to reach out to their local authorities. The image of the message was sent out can be found at: https://bit.ly/30CfjIe

The focus of the MSAD 54 re-entry plan is a safe return to school for our students, our staff, and our community. The board adopted plan follows the US CDC guidance.

We believe co-curricular activities are an important part of a child’s education in grades 7–12. It is our belief that to the greatest extent possible, with COVID-19 precautions in place, as many of our traditional co-curricular student activities continue to run during the pandemic.

Recommendations: It is the recommendation of the 7-12 administrative team that: MSAD 54 will follow all state and federal requirements for co-curricular activities and will allow co-curricular activities under the following requirements.

There were a total of five new cases of Covid-19 today; one case at Mill Stream Elementary School, one case at Somerset Career and Technical Center, one case at Skowhegan Area High School and two cases at Skowhegan Area Middle School. As a result of these 5 cases, 14 individuals have been required to quarantine.

At the MSAD 54 School Board Meeting of 8/12/21 I recommended the board require the use of masks in school for everyone in school, regardless of vaccination. The Board supported this recommendation and committed to reviewing the decision monthly throughout the year. At the Board meeting of 10/21 the Board affirmed the decision and my recommendation that masks continue to be required for this school year unless the following criteria were to change. Below is a summary of why the recommendation stands and the key items that would each need to change for that recommendation to be adjusted.

I am writing to you this evening to share that the district was informed of three additional cases of COVID-19 today at Canaan Elementary School Mill Stream Elementary School and Skowhegan Area High School. Thanks to individuals following protocols and staying home, two individuals needed to quarantine from these cases.

Our pooled testing program is going well and families can add their child at any time. If a student is in pooled testing, does not have symptoms and is a close contact at school or while taking part in a school activity, they will need to quarantine in the community but are able to attend school and take part in school activities. In the first four weeks of the pooled testing program, 63 students have been able to continue to attend school and school activities even though they were a close contact at school. If you are interested in having your child sign up for this opportunity, see this letter.