JAY — Regional School Unit 73 directors approved a return to school plan Thursday, August 6, but scheduled a public forum prior to voting on what model will be used.

A proposed calendar change was also tabled until after the forum.

The forum, followed by a special school board meeting, will be 6 p.m. Thursday, August 13, in the Spruce Mountain Middle School cafeteria. If numbers dictate it, the meetings will be moved to the SMMS gym to meet the Governor’s social distancing requirements.

Director Doug DiPasquale wasn’t sure if parents were aware of the suggested plan and models. He asked for the public’s input.

“We’re acting on a document not made available to the public. This is not typically how we operate. Is there a way we can get this to those attending digitally on Zoom? They have no plan to look at,” Director Michael Morrell said.

The RSU 73 framework for returning to school 2020 had been shared earlier with the directors. Morrell created a Google document and made it available to those attending the meeting, held via Zoom videoconferencing and in the SMMS cafeteria.

According to the document, at this time RSU 73 cannot meet the health and safety requirements necessary for full, in-person attendance/instruction.

Hybrid Model A would see 50% of students in-person at any one time, with 2 groups of students at every grade level. Each group would be scheduled to attend school in-person two days in a row and to attend remotely for two days each week. Fridays would be remote for all students (unless the groups were not able to attend school twice in a week), with no new learning.

In Hybrid Model B, students would be broken into four groups with each attending school in-person for one designated, consistent day each week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday). If there is a four-day week, students who miss a regularly scheduled day would attend on Friday. Fridays would be remote for all students.

In either hybrid model, students who attend the life skills program and behavioral program would attend
Monday through Thursday. Administrative staff would strive to put family members into the same group.

At one point Thursday, 98 people were signed in to the meeting. Some of those were directors and RSU 73 staff.

Director Joel Pike asked for clarification between the plan and the model.

The plan has a bunch of different models the state requires districts to have, Albert answered.

At the last RSU 73 directors’ meeting, three options for learning this fall were shared: return to in-person instruction, continue remote instruction or use a hybrid, some mix of the two.

On July 31, the state approved in-person learning for all 16 counties, provided proper safety requirements could be met.

“I have concerns, 2 pages of notes myself. There are a lot of finite details. Having an idea of what those would be needs to be part of the plan,” Pike said.

Another family survey was sent out Friday. It is also available on the RSU 73 website. Families that didn’t respond by August 11 were contacted by telephone to obtain the information.

“Without having a forum, the public involved, we can’t make an informed decision,” DiPasquale said.

“At no point have I lost trust in the (return to school) committee. They have put in many hours of blood, sweat and probably tears,” Morrell said.

Discussions with people around the state to brainstorm what might work have been held. Some things didn’t work and weren’t brought up, SMMS teacher and return to school committee member Julie Taylor said.

“We can’t kick this soccer ball very far down the road. We need some direction. There is so much to do,” SMMS teacher and return to school committee member Rob Taylor said.

Director Elaine Fitzgerald was concerned with making a decision without having the final numbers.

“I trust the people who have put the plan together. They have worked damned hard,” director Andrew Sylvester said.

“Some things are mandated. The CDC requires 3 feet social distancing, 6 feet when eating, wearing masks all day. Those won’t change. It’s why the plan is what it is,” Rob Taylor said.

“This is my first time seeing the plan. Parents need to see this. Let the public have an opportunity to see it,” Ron Guay said via Zoom.

“Our district is not one size fits all,” Spruce Mountain Primary School first grade teacher Susan Wiles said via Zoom.

The vote was 8 to 6 in favor of approving the plan.

Director Lynn Ouellette was the only one not in favor of tabling the decision on which model to use.