SAD 46 officials readying for first days of school

DEXTER — A week before the opening days of classes during the first week of September, teachers, staff and administrators across SAD 46 have been busy making preparations for a school year that will be unlike any other with hybrid instruction and remote learning methods being used.

During an Aug. 26 school board meeting at the Ridge View Community School, Superintendent Kevin Jordan mentioned links to various components of the “Return to School Plan” have been posted at www.aos94.org. He said there are “many other resources for parents” covering topics such as screenings and masks, with numerous questions concerning the protective garments having already been posed.

“It’s all up in one spot on the website,” Jordan said.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
DAILY SCANS — A pair of temperature scanners are in place by the entrance to the Ridge View Community School in Dexter to be used on students and staff coming into the building at the start of the day.

Under the current green designation for SAD 46, kindergarten to grade 5 pupils would attend classes five days a week. Class sizes have been reduced from years past and the number of classes has been expanded to allow social distancing protocols to be in place. 

Grade 6-12 students will receive a hybrid method of instruction by attending two days of in-person classes with the other three featuring remote learning. These pupils would be divided into a pair of cohorts, with one half coming in on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half attending Thursday and Fridays. Wednesdays would be remote learning for all grade 6-12 students.

The school board had several questions to ask, starting with the lunch process.

“Lunches are going to be a developing project,” Jordan said. He explained Ridge View students would eat in their classrooms and at Dexter Regional High School meals would be served in a socially-distanced cafeteria with the secondary pupils already divided into the pair of cohorts.

When applicable, Jordan said additional meals would be sent home with students to have for their remote learning days and those taking part in full-time remote learning can pick up meals at the school for the time being. He said a meal delivery plan is in development.

Students will have staggered exits off the buses and will join those being dropped off at the two schools in having temperature scans conducted at the door. At Ridge View red tiger paws have been placed a little more than six feet apart to guide the students inside.

“We have a plan in place but I fully expect that we will have to tweak that over the first few days,” Jordan said

A question asked about the morale of teachers and Ridge View Assistant Principal Jessica Dyer said, “I think if you throw out every emotion I think they have all had it at least once in the last few days. They just care so much and want it to go well, we’re planners as teachers.”

Jordan said he could get a sense of anxiety from teachers but once students return to the buildings “it will feel more like getting back to normal.”

Dexter Regional High School Stephen Bell said five workshop days leading up the start of classes have helped. “I think it mirrors what you see in society,” he said about the uncertainty of teaching in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When asked, Jordan said two staff members would be working remotely due to health reasons.

“The current enrollment for Dexter Regional High School is 295,” Bell said in his report. He said students with A-G surnames would attend classes in-person on Mondays and Tuesdays and the K-Z group has Thursday and Friday classes in the building. 

“There is a little movement within those cohorts,” Bell said, saying parent requests to have their child be moved from one to another have been honored whenever possible. He also said all of the Harmony students are in the same cohort to accommodate the bus from this community.

Bell said about 20 students have opted for full-time remote learning, and this number is expected to increase to near 30.

“We have had two very busy staff days,” Dyer reported. She said around 80 K-5 students will be learning remotely, with the number at about 100 with grades 6-8 factored in.

Dyer said this represents 15-20 percent of the total Ridge View population, and remote learning numbers are fairly consistent across each grade level.

“We have only three students, as of today, who are going to go with remote learning,” Tri-County Technical Center Director Brian Leavitt said. He said some programs, such as commercial truck driving, are difficult to take part in remotely but the center will work to accommodate students.

Leavitt said 24 TCTC CNA students have passed their exams and four others have passed their commercial drivers license tests. Two other CAD program graduates now have their program licenses, and Leavitt said he believes they are the only tech center students in the state to have accomplished this.

Jordan said the day after the school board meeting the Maine Principal’s Association (MPA) was scheduled to make a decision on fall high school sports. He said cheering, cross county, field hockey, football, golf and soccer would take place with health and safety guidelines or be canceled. 

Should the MPA allow for these sports then Jordan would send the sport-specific guidelines to the school board and they could meet to discuss these the next week if desired.

The superintendent said should the MPA give the go-ahead, “Each school district/school board has the ability to make their own decision on whether to go forward with the MPA decision or make their own decision to cancel.” He said school boards overseeing Camden Hills and Deer Isle-Stonington high schools have already said these teams will not be playing in the fall.

Bell was asked if potential guidelines could be carried out and he said, “I haven’t heard anything from the commissioners that we couldn’t take care of.”

He said in terms of spectators there would be protocols for fans to follow, similar to what was done for graduation, or another possibility would be no fans. Bell said either way, athletic contests could be livestreamed.

“Being the parent of a senior I don’t want to sit at home, I want to be there with my child,” board member Kacy Wakefield said. “I think we could figure something out.”

Bell said with public gathering number limits in place, a possibility could be to have only home fans at games and the inverse would be true for the Tigers’ away games.

Wakefield asked Bell how coaches feel. “They want to play, they want to stay safe,” the principal responded.

Board Chair Andrea Rollins asked why high school sports are still being considered but Ridge View sports have already been canceled. 

“The Maine Principal’s Association has no governance over middle school sports at all,” Jordan said. He said officials have Penquis League schools met several weeks prior and decided to cancel the fall season for these sports.