A staff member waits for students at Medomak Valley High School on Feb. 1, the first day with all students back for in-person instruction since October. (Bisi Cameron Yee photo, LCN file)
On Sunday, Feb. 28, Medomak Valley High School informed parents and students that the school would return to remote instruction for “up to five days” due to a positive COVID-19 test.
An “individual associated with MVHS recently tested positive,” according to a letter from Principal Linda Pease.
“Students who are determined to be close contacts will receive a second letter following this communication and we will work throughout the day today to make contact with these families to answer any questions,” the letter read.
According to the letter, Mid-Coast School of Technology students not in quarantine will attend classes as usual; students in the LEAD program, for students with complex developmental needs, and students in the MVHS Day Treatment Program, which focuses on emotional and behavioral needs, will attend school all five days if not in quarantine; and special education students “who make plans with their resource room teachers may come to school as long as they are not on quarantine.”
The school said they “hope to have answers to questions about athletics and extracurricular activities in the next day or so.”
RSU 40 Superintendent Steve Nolan said in an email that “a number of students and staff have to quarantine following the Maine (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) protocol for schools. We switched to a remote schedule to allow time to find substitute coverage or until the quarantine expires, whichever comes first.”
The remote schedule is broken down into four 50-minute periods from 8-11:50 a.m. After a lunch break, office hours and help sessions will run from 12:30-2 p.m.
The school had returned to in-person learning on Feb. 1 after employing remote instruction since October 2020.
