Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta has canceled school Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 23 and 24, after an individual associated with the school tested positive for COVID-19.
GSB Principal Kim Schaff announced the positive test in an email to parents Sunday, Nov. 22.
Following the school’s operating procedures, staff will be contacting any students or staff members who were in close contact with the individual, Schaff wrote in the letter. According to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a close contact is someone who has been within 6 feet of an infected individual, either with or without a face mask, for at least 15 minutes during an infectious period.
All close contacts will be asked to quarantine for 14 days from their last exposure to the individual who tested positive, even if a close contact has a negative test result, Schaff wrote in the letter.
“At this time, this is a single case and not an outbreak,” Schaff wrote.
Even though GSB could reopen tomorrow, Schaff and AOS 93 Superintendent Craig Jurgensen made the decision to cancel school given concerns about staff coverage and the short school week, Schaff wrote. GSB’s fall break is scheduled to begin Wednesday, Nov. 25, according to the school’s website.
According to the letter, Schaff anticipates in-person instruction will resume Monday, Nov. 30.
