Governor Janet Mills’ administration on Friday released new guidelines for schools that plan to reopen in the fall.
The plan is aimed at providing support for schools that implement new health and safety measures for students and teachers in districts that choose to return to in-class learning.
That support includes $165 million in Federal CARES Act funding that Mills has authorized to be distributed to school systems across Maine.
“Like many parents and teachers, I am concerned about the children who are being left behind and the inequities that have been exacerbated by this pandemic. For the sake of Maine children, their futures, and the livelihoods of Maine families, returning to classroom instruction when it is safe to do so must be our shared goal,” said Governor Mills. “But that goal cannot be achieved at the expense of peoples’ health and safety, regardless of what the Trump Administration says.”
The guidance laid out by the administration is considered “non-mandatory.”
Mills says their approach will be based on science, and will include new health and safety precautions, including:
- Symptom screenings before coming to schools
- Physical distancing within school facilities
- Wearing face coverings
- Practicing proper hand hygiene
- Wearing personal protective equipment when in close proximity to students
- Remaining isolated at home if sick until meeting criteria to return to school
Schools can also make decisions based on a tiered, color-coded public health advisory system for each county that will be unveiled at the end of this month. A red advisory level means there is high risk of COVID-19 spread and in-person instruction should not be conducted. Yellow means there’s an elevated risk and that administrators should proceed with a “hybrid” model, or a combination of remote and in-person learning. Green means in-person instruction is safe, but that individual districts can revert to the hybrid system “if its buildings or readiness make adhering to baseline requirements a challenge.”
That alert system will be posted on the Department of Education website beginning July 31st, and will be updated on a biweekly basis.
