November 9, 2021
Dear Staff, Students, and Families,
This letter is to update you on covid-19 health concerns within our school community. Please read this letter in its entirety. As of this morning we have had the following new cases: 1 positive staff member at Manchester Elementary School, 4 positive students at Readfield Elementary School, 2 positive students at Maranacook High School and 1 positive student at Maranacook Middle School. Contact tracing was necessary for only 2 of the student cases and has been completed.
As many of you are aware, we continue to be challenged with school staffing. At this point due to a staffing shortage we have made the difficult decision to move Manchester Elementary School AND Mount Vernon Elementary School to remote learning status for the remainder of this week. We will continue to monitor staffing and make a decision on Friday on how best to proceed going into next week.
Any students/families that need food service please reach out to Jen Hall, Food Service Director. She can be reached through email at: Jen_Hall@maranacook.com, work phone at (207) 685-4923 ext. 1085 or cell phone at (207) 242-0814. Individual arrangements will be made to best facilitate the families needs. Please reach out at your earliest convenience.
Manchester and Mount Vernon Elementary Schools will be remote on Wednesday 11/10 and Friday, 11/12. (Wednesday is a half day in the morning only and Thursday is Veterans’ Day with no school.)
Readfield Elementary continues to be remote through Friday.
At this time Wayne Elementary, Maranacook Middle and High Schools will continue to run as scheduled.
We are asking all families to continue to use the Covid Screener (click to access) and to contact the school nurses should you fail the screener. In this latest round of cases the primary symptoms have been headache, sore throat, cough and runny nose (congestion) - all symptoms that can be associated with a common cold. With the spread of highly contagious variants it is VERY important to identify symptoms and seek guidance. We want to keep all of our students and staff healthy and safe. We urge everyone to err on the side of caution over the course of the next several months to help curb any future spread of COVID-19. Call a health care provider if symptoms start. It is important that you call a healthcare facility before you show up in person. Stay home if you are sick.
Questions can be directed to the principals or the school nurses by calling the schools directly. For general COVID-19 questions, dial 211 (or 1-866-811-5695). You can also text your ZIP code to 898-211 or email info@211maine.org. Call a health care provider for questions about your symptoms. More information can be found at www.maine.gov/dhhs/coronavirus or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.
Sincerely,
James Charette
Superintendent of Schools