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Staff training? Check. Sanitizer? Check. Spacing? Check. Schools get ready for students, MSAD 15 board hears

A pre-K classroom invites both safe spacing and active movement / Photos from Sept 2 Zoom presentation to school board

| Joanne Cole |

With GNG schools opening to students next week, the MSAD 15 school board heard a comprehensive update from administrators at their September 2 meeting.  Creative classroom spaces, staff training in health and safety protocols, curriculum discussions, support for fully remote learners, and athletics and other co-curricular activities were among the topics.

“I think we’re in a very good place, Superintendent Craig King said, leading off.  He praised the planning team led by curriculum director Chanda Turner.  “They really carried us through the summer, “ King said, “the hard work, rolling up their sleeves.  It’s serving us well.”  In particular, he cited the team’s responding with patience and seriousness to innumerable calls and emails so that everyone knew they were heard. 

Turner acknowledged the challenges, credited the team, and then pivoted to more-recent preparations.  A focus on staff wellness at the outset has been followed by a flurry of other professional development activities, she said.  Teachers have been receiving training in health and safety protocols, tech tools, and more, while also planning instruction and preparing their classrooms for the coming year.

Turner and finance director Diane Boucher shared photos illustrating how distancing and other measures will be achieved within classrooms, in hallways and common spaces, and on buses. 

Meanwhile, devices, books, and other materials are going out to students who chose remote-only instruction.

Turner stressed sending a consistent message that health protocols are “and measures” – not alternatives, where doing only one suffices.  So, it’s masks and hand-washing and social distancing and sanitizers and…  Think of each measure as a slice of swiss cheese, she said; more than one slice is needed to cover the holes. 

No lockers, no cubbies allowed – instead, personal bins

Finance director Boucher expressed appreciation for ongoing safety consultations with NG fire and rescue chief Toby Martin and his counterparts in Gray.  She gave a rundown on PPE supplies received from the state (masks and shields in, waiting on gloves and gowns), sanitizers, deep-cleaning supplies and methods.  Another practical issue: storage.  All the furniture, materials, supplies, and soft goods that have had to be removed to make space and meet cleaning guidelines need to go somewhere.

A classroom set-up takes ‘learning pods’ literally

On the co-curricular front, athletics director Susan Robbins expressed encouragement that the Maine Principals Association, which oversees school sports, the Department of Education, and Department of Health and Human Services had only hours before reached agreement that school sports will start on September 14.  But what exact form that will take remains work in progress. 

Among the new approaches, Robbins mentioned ‘geographical pods’ where teams might play others outside their usual league but nearby, and ‘open tournaments’ at season’s end where “every school could make it.”  She and coaches will be sending out guidelines, details, and logistics to families as plans take shape.    

Planning is also going forward for other co-curricular activities, such as band, theater, National Honor Society, the literary journal, the gay-straight alliance, and other groups, according to King.  Some can convene remotely, he noted, and King is encouraging all to “be creative” as they plan. 

As they look ahead, teachers and administrators are mindful of gaps in student learning, given disruption last spring, a summer break, and a yet-different learning environment this fall.  As they approach another unprecedented academic year, King is encouraging teacher teams to set priorities.  For example, what are ‘the non-negotiables’ needed to move a third-grader to fourth grade? In high school science, what units must they have? King asked.

Answers to those questions and more will start to come next week, when school opens and teachers and students get under way.

Video of the full MSAD 15 school board September 2 meeting can be viewed here.

Bus marked for spaced seating