Public Information and Announcements

I am writing to you this evening to share that the district was informed of 7 additional cases of COVID-19 between Friday and today; one case at Canaan Elementary School, one case at Bloomfield Elementary School, one case at Margaret Chase Smith School, one case at Mill Stream Elementary School, one cases at North Elementary School, and two cases at Skowhegan Area High School.

Our nursing staff and administration continue to connect with the CDC on our new cases and work throughout the days and evenings to complete contact tracing. They work very hard to communicate with the families of the students who were close contacts and answer any questions they might have. In all, these 7 cases resulted in 50 individuals needing to quarantine.

I am writing to you this evening to share that the district was informed of four additional cases of Covid-19. These cases impacted students and/or staff at Margaret Chase Smith School, North Elementary School, and the Skowhegan Area High School and Middle School.

Nursing staff and administration worked throughout the day to connect with the CDC, and complete contact tracing. They communicated with the families of the students who were close contacts. In all, the 4 cases resulted in 16 individuals needing to quarantine.

At the MSAD 54 School Board Meeting of 8/12/21 I recommended the board require the use of masks in school for everyone in school, regardless of vaccination. The Board supported this recommendation and committed to reviewing the decision monthly throughout the year. Below is a summary of why the recommendation stands and the key items that would need to change for that recommendation to be adjusted.

The MSAD 54 Board of Directors will be broadcasting the board meeting of October 21st via zoom at the following link below:

https://zoom.us/j/2229701847?pwd=amhlK2lvRE1DdkJSLytHcEs0d2RMUT09
Meeting ID: 222 970 1847 / Passcode: 260156

I’m writing this evening to let you know that the district was informed of four additional cases of Covid-19 today; all four cases were from the Skowhegan Area High School. None of the cases are believed to be a result of in-school transmission of the virus.

Nursing staff and administration worked to determine that 9 individuals were close contacts and therefore were required to quarantine from school. 

I am pleased to be able to inform you that we were able to start pooled testing this week. This voluntary program has open enrollment, so you can still sign up your child using the link and information in the pooled testing letter. Any student can take part in this program unless they have tested positive in the last 90 days. Those students can take part after 90 days have passed from their positive test. Pooled testing is a program that tests students once each week for COVID-19 as a part of a group. The benefits to individuals who are taking part in pooled testing are:

1. Catching a positive case early which will lessen the impact on others at school and in the individual’s family.
2. Students and staff who take part in pooled testing do not need to quarantine if they are a close contact (inside 6 feet for 15 minutes or more) to a positive case of COVID-19 at school, on the bus, or during a school activity, unless they have symptoms. This will allow students to participate in school-based extracurricular and co-curricular activities if they are a close contact school, on the bus, or during a school-based event.

This is another measure that will increase the number of students who can remain at school. If students are a part of a positive pool, they will get tested individually the next time they are at school. Individuals will only need to be quarantined if they test positive for COVID-19 on an individual test. This, again, keeps students in school. The individual tests will be conducted at school.

Today, the district was informed of nine additional cases of Covid-19. These cases impacted students and staff at Bloomfield Elementary School, Margaret Chase Smith School, North Elementary School, and the Skowhegan Area High School and Middle School.

Nursing staff and administration worked throughout the day to connect with the CDC, trace close contacts to the positive cases, and communicate with the families of the students who were close contacts. In all, the 9 cases resulted in 39 individuals needing to quarantine. In many of these cases, the number of individuals needing to quarantine was greatly reduced due to our masking/distancing protocols and individuals staying home when they were symptomatic or close contacts themselves.

Normally I do not write on the weekends but yesterday evening my letter failed to send, and thus I’m sending you a note on Saturday. Although it’s raining, hopefully this is a good weekend for all.

I’m writing this afternoon to let you know that the district has had six additional cases of Covid-19 since Thursday; one case at Mill Stream Elementary School, one case at Skowhegan Area Middle School, and four cases at North Elementary School. As a result of these six cases, 33 individuals have had to quarantine.