AUBURN — High school students in Auburn could return to five days of in-person instruction as soon as April 5 if approved by the School Committee this week.

The proposal, from the district’s Re-entry Steering Committee, would also place “high-support needs” students between prekindergarten and eighth grade back in schools five days a week, with the specific students determined by the number of spaces available in a classroom while maintaining current guidelines.

The announcement came during a joint City Council and School Committee workshop Monday, exactly one year since Auburn schools first closed due to COVID-19.

School Committee Chairwoman Karen Mathieu said that under the proposal, the option for a hybrid schedule would be “removed from the table,” meaning students could choose between full-time in-person, or full-time remote learning.

She said the School Committee will receive a detailed presentation on the proposal Wednesday, and that the steering committee has attempted to balance safety for staff and students.

Mathieu also urged officials to keep in mind that while school staff is starting to get vaccinated, the state’s guidelines for schools haven’t changed.

The steering committee has had to make any proposal work under state guidelines, which still asks schools to maintain 6 feet between adults and others. Students must maintain at least 3 feet of distance except during mealtimes, when unmasked students must be kept 6 feet apart.

Mathieu said for grades prekindergarten through grade 8, there is a lack of space that will prevent all students from returning to full-time attendance. She said those decisions will have to be made “grade by grade,” and by classroom based on space and the needs of students.

“Families would have the option to say no thank you,” she said.

According to a memo from Assistant Superintendent Michelle McClellan, “the number of students who are identified will be determined by the number of spaces available in a classroom while maintaining current guidelines.”

The memo says students will begin attending school as early as March 22, “based on planning and parent consent.”

City officials have been pressuring school officials to find ways to return students to in-person instruction for months.

In December, the City Council passed a resolution asking the School Committee to return students to four-day instruction by Jan. 4, even as officials knew it was not likely to occur.

But, as vaccinations ramp up, and with teachers now eligible to receive COVID-19 shots, school districts are seeing more pressure for more classroom time. Auburn previously added the option for students to add every other Wednesday to hybrid schedules.

Maine Department of Education spokeswoman Kelli Deveaux told the Portland Press Herald that the state has no plans to change the distancing requirements in the state’s framework for returning to in-person instruction. But the state will consider adjustments if the U.S. Center for Disease Control recommends lifting public health protocols such as minimum space between desks, she said.

Mathieu acknowledged the council’s previous resolution, but said, “unfortunately, that’s not something we could do, while still following” state guidelines.

The most recent COVID-19 cases in the district came March 11, when one high school student, one middle school student, one elementary school student, and one elementary school staff member tested positive.

The proposal would bring back students in both cohorts at Edward Little High School at the beginning of the fourth quarter on April 5.

VET INCENTIVE

Also on Monday, the City Council approved a final reading of a development incentive program that would eliminate building permit fees for veterans, and cut commercial building fees in half.

With a unanimous vote Monday, the ordinance changes will eliminate residential construction and rehabilitation permitting fees for veterans, widowers of veterans, or contractors working on behalf of veterans. Fees for commercial construction would also receive a 50% reduction.

City officials see the change as a continuation of efforts to encourage housing development and building rehabilitation in Auburn, and have also touted the program as unique in Maine — or even the first of its kind.

Councilor Holly Lasagna said staff should track the initiative’s progress, as well as make sure the city is “aggressive” in marketing efforts to let people know about the incentive.

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