| Joanne Cole, NGX |
A highly anticipated meeting of the MSAD 15 school board will take place tonight, Wednesday August 5, at 6:30 pm. Topping the agenda: discussion of plans and a calendar for returning to school this fall. For login information to join the meeting on Zoom or to see the agenda, click here.
The August 5 meeting follows a July 29 board workshop where district administrators and board members discussed a draft Return to School Framework. More than 100 citizens attended via Zoom. The draft plan builds on a framework from the state and lays out overarching principles as well as details for three possible instructional models: 100% in-person, 100% remote, and a hybrid of in-person and remote instruction, among many other topics. Those include health and safety precautions and protocols, transportation, athletics and co-curriculars, Covid-specific financial resources, and much more.
As of the late July workshop, administrators expected to present a revised,, supplemented Return to School Plan for the board to consider and possibly approve at the August 5 meeting. If a plan were approved, administrators anticipated next asking parents to notify the district if they want remote-only instruction for their children instead of a district plan with in-school instruction. After that Superintendent Craig King would announce which of the three models—remote, in-person or hybrid—the district will open school with. That decision will be made in consultation with Maine CDC and Department of Education, among others, and will depend on the district’s capacity to accommodate students and staff safely in accordance with detailed state requirements, how many district families request remote-only instruction, and many other factors.
Timetables and plans necessarily remain tentative for now. But the board’s August 5 meeting is likely to be a significant step forward in an ongoing, deeply challenging planning process. For information on joining the August 5 meeting on Zoom, click here. To see the draft plan and calendar that were discussed at the July 29 workshop, together with a July 29 letter from Superintendent King to the community, click here.
