Gould Academy issues statement in response to Facebook post

BETHEL — Earlier this a week a post was made on the Team Bethel Facebook page about Gould Academy students being responsible for bringing COVID-19 back to Maine. The school released the following statement regarding the Facebook post:

“In these challenging times, there has been growing interest in town in what’s happening at Gould. Although we, like most schools, are transitioning to remote learning for the next few weeks, if not longer. We at Gould feel fortunate that there are no known cases of COVID-19 on campus. In part, we like to think that is the result of sensible precautions the board and senior administrators have taken since the onset of the outbreak—steps like canceling parents weekend in February, scaling back student travel, closing the campus to outside visitors, and encouraging good health and hygiene practices.

“In part, we like to think that is the result of sensible precautions the board of trustees and senior administrators have taken since the onset of the outbreak—steps like canceling parents weekend in February, scaling back student travel, closing the campus to outside visitors, and encouraging good health and hygiene practices.

“Students have been on spring break since March 10, with the majority of students returning home for the vacation. The school has permitted a limited number of international students who were not able to travel home to remain in the dorms through the end of March. As hard as it has been for some of them to be away from home in these uncertain days, many local businesses have made extra efforts to make them feel welcome and safe in Bethel, for which the school is very grateful.

“The start of spring term has been postponed to April 6, when a remote learning program will begin. Gould faculty are fortunate to have many years of experience in distance learning, something the school’s competitive athletes have found enormously helpful as they work to keep their studies on track as they travel.

“It is our goal to be as transparent as possible throughout the course of the outbreak. Anyone wanting to know more about what’s happening on campus can follow the latest Gould updates at https://gouldacademy.org/about/coronavirus/”