SAD 46 to require masking in classrooms

DEXTER — On the eve of the first day of classes and less than a week after voting to make masks optional in the classroom, the SAD 46 school board altered its decision and will now require masks indoors. Exceptions can be made for people with certain disabilities, and face shields would require a doctor’s note.

A motion to this effect, along with implementing optional pool testing and to review the mask policy at the next board meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 15, was approved by a 6-4 vote during a meeting at the Ridge View Community School on Aug. 31 with 50-plus parents, students, staff and others in the gym. 

Twenty-six members of the public opted to address the board with 12 speaking in favor of universal masking, 12 opposed to the requirement and two others not indicating a preference.

Board Chairperson Andrea Rollins said a request had been made by parents, staff and some board members to reconsider after the Aug. 25 vote.

Previously, SAD 46 would have required masks or face shields in the schools only under certain circumstances guided by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s community transmission color code system.

Masks would have only been required in common areas in the buildings such as hallways when Penobscot County is in the red stage, the CDC’s most severe designation for community transmission. The face wear would have been optional in the classroom and outside regardless of the level of community transmission, and would have been optional in common areas when community transmission is at any of the three lower designations.

Under any plan, masks will be worn on buses or other school transportation across the state and nation in compliance with the U.S. CDC mandate.

Board member Amanda Paige made a motion to approve the original SAD 46 2021-22 Return to School Plan with its universal masking requirement that had been presented to the directors by Superintendent Kevin Jordan six days prior — which ended up being modified that evening — along with two amendments. 

The amendments are for the board to review its mask policies at the next meeting rather than planning to do so at the regular October session and to add pool testing. Parents/guardians can either opt in or opt out of having their child(ren) take part in pool testing.

Under this system students, with parental permission, would be in small pods and they would be swabbed. The samples would be sent off to the lab for testing. If there is a positive case in the pool then the pupils would be tested again to determine who is positive. Those testing positive would need to quarantine,and this would help determine close contacts who may also need to quarantine.

Paige said she did not vote on the plan as originally presented because she did not agree with it 100 percent. She explained she would prefer the board review mask wearing more frequently, hence the adjustment of the meeting date to Sept. 15 from Oct. 6. The pool testing amendment was added per the board’s suggestion after having come up shortly before.

A motion to return to the original plan exactly as it was  first written was voted down 6-4. Following this, a motion to amend the plan as approved on Aug. 25 to include a consideration of creating and adopting guidelines around pool testing was approved 6-4.

“We think masking certainly presents a better opportunity for students to stay in school,” Jordan said on Aug. 25. “We certainly understand masking is a divisive issue. We hear it from both sides.”

The first full day of school for SAD 46 was on Wednesday, Sept. 1. Students and staff will be in the school building five days a week with no regular plans for hybrid or remote learning. There will be no limit on the number of people per classroom, as there was last year.

Jordan said the plan for the 2021-22 academic year includes some recommendations from the CDC that previously had been requirements, including physical distancing of 3 feet between people when possible, promotion of hand washing and respiratory etiquette and encouraging those who feel ill to stay home.

“We are hopeful things will progress to be more like where we were pre-pandemic,” he said. “Our No. 1 goal is to have all students, all staff in-person learning all year.”

The school district will comply with the state mandate for staff to anonymously report their vaccination status. The state will make the percentage of compliance available to the public.

“At this point it is approximately 66 percent,” Jordan said on Aug. 31. “We are getting ready to do another survey for the staff to update that information.”

Extracurricular activities and athletics are on track for normal seasons. The Maine Principals Association  is leaving decisions about those programs up to the school districts this year.

The approved plan will be posted at aos94.org/.