Regional School Unit 57 located near Maine’s western border with New Hampshire, delayed school for one week following a positive COVID-19 test to an individual associated with the transportation department.
Superintendent Larry Malone stated on Monday in a letter to students and families that an individual associated with the transportation department recently tested positive for COVID-19. Malone added that the Maine CDC determined in contact tracing, that the individual was not in “close contact,” but still the district wanted to take extra precaution.
“Out of an abundance of caution prior to the opening of school, we have decided to delay the staggered start we had planned to commence this week,” the letter stated. “We will delay our start for all students (remote and in-person) until Sept. 14.” The district was scheduled to begin a hybrid model of education on Sept. 8.
In the meantime, Malone said the technology department will be working on deploying student devices to support remote learning. School Transportation News reached out to the district for more information on the positive case and school start-up but had not heard back at this writing.
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On Friday, the district released its reopening plans, including transportation operations. The letter addressed to the community states that students must wear a mask at all times while on the bus and use hand sanitizer when loading and unloading.
Every school bus is reportedly equipped with a hand sanitizer dispenser, which is attached to the seat directly behind the driver. Students will load from the rear to the front of the bus and unload from front to rear, while also adhering to social distancing.
Students will also be assigned seats, one child per seat. Siblings are reportedly allowed to sit together. Students will also only be picked up and dropped off at one location.
When transporting pre-kindergarten students, they will sit at the front of the bus. Parents will be permitted to assist in seating and buckling of the students, however, they will need to wear a mask and engage in proper hand hygiene.
