FARMINGTON — The Regional School Unit 9 board of directors Tues., Jan. 26, approved the modifications to the winter sports season as outlined by the Maine Principals Association.
The modifications were developed by the Maine School Superintendents Association, which released a memo Jan. 21 notifying school districts that competitions may take place regardless of a county’s COVID-19 color-coded risk designation.
“The color-coding system will now be used as advisory to in-person learning, but will no longer apply to school-based activities, which means schools and counties that are designated as yellow or even potentially red can make a local decision as to whether they’re going to participate in after-school activities,” Athletic Director Chad Brackett said.
The state’s risk assessment for spread of the virus is coded green for low, yellow for moderate and red for high.
The Superintendents Association provides guidance for when counties turn yellow, which suggests no more than two competitions a week for individual teams and limiting competitions to one other district.
Director of Curriculum Laura Columbia and the district’s nursing team provided an overview of the three new aspects of their job description due to the coronavirus pandemic. They are responding, educating and planning.
Kathryn Clement, the nurse at WG Mallett School in Farmington explained the process of responding to a positive case of COVID-19 associated with the RSU 9 community.
“Once we have either been notified by the (Center for Disease Control) or we have that positive result in our hands, and parents will often screenshot it and send it via email, we can start collecting our lists for close contacts,” Clement said.
According to Clement, at the start of the school year the nursing team was required to wait for confirmation of a positive case from the Maine’s Center for Disease Control before starting contact tracing. Nurses now have the authority to proceed with tracing once they receive confirmation from either the guardian, the doctor or the CDC.
“We trace back two days prior to the start of symptoms or the positive test result, whichever started first,” Clement said.
District Nurse Coordinator Janneke Strickland explained that educating the RSU 9 community has also become a major task for school nurses. They have designed and implemented the majority of written information and visual reminders of COVID-19 precautions, screenings and warning symptoms posted throughout schools.
Cape Cod Hill School nurse Jesstine Meader reviewed the planning aspect that nurses are now responsible for such as assessing the safety of new activities, providing safety modifications and remaining updated on COVID-19 vaccination timelines.
The state has four vaccine distribution phases: 1a, 1b, 1c and phase 2.
Meader said Maine is currently in phase 1a which focuses on health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities, but has also begun vaccinating individuals in phase 1b.
“We have actually moved into 1b early. The goal for 1b was February estimated through April, and so 1b has recently changed and that’s focusing on the older adults,” Meader said. “Seventy and older are currently able to register for their vaccine and are getting vaccinated. The next step will be moving to those 65 through 69 in 1b.”
Phase 1b includes essential front-line workers such as teachers and phase 1c includes all other front-line/essential workers with vaccinations estimated to begin in May. Phase 2 is estimated to begin in June and includes everyone ages 16 to 64.
Meader referred meeting attendees to the MaineHealth website, https://www.mainehealth.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19/Vaccine where people can preregister for their vaccine.
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