Augusta Public School Board pursues ‘pool testing’ for reducing pandemic requirements
The Department of Education protocol calls for 30% of a building s people to be tested for COVID-19 on a regular basis as a way to ease physical distancing requirements.
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AUGUSTA In order to have all students in the Augusta Public School System return for in-person classes five days a week this fall, school officials will send out forms of consent to families to allow their children to participate in pool COVID-19 testing.
According to the Maine Department of Education, if a combined 30% of students, faculty and staff in a school building give consent to be tested, social distancing and physical distancing requirements do not have to be followed. That means desks and students can be closer than the allotted 3 feet for children and 6 feet for adults; however, masks still have to be worn and students still have to be 6 feet apart while eating lunch.
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Two Augusta schools report positive COVID-19 cases
School officials said the latest cases of the coronavirus would not affect the schedules at Cony Middle and High School and Sylvio Gilbert Elementary School.
AUGUSTA Two public schools in Augusta reported positive COVID-19 cases Sunday night.
One of the infected people is affiliated with Cony Middle and High School, and the other with Sylvio Gilbert Elementary School.
Cony Principal Kim Silsby said close contacts have been identified and contacted. They are under quarantine.
Gilbert Principal Sarah Landry said the person who tested positive is in isolation and “not showing symptoms.”
Close contacts at Gilbert have also been identified and contacted, according to Landry.
Augusta, Hallowell-area schools report positive COVID-19 cases
There will be no change in schedule for Cony Middle and High School or Hall-Dale Elementary School as a result of the coronavirus cases.
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Cony Middle and High School and Hall-Dale Elementary School each reported a positive COVID-19 case on Wednesday afternoon.
Regional School Unit 2 Superintendent Tonya Arnold reported the positive case at Hall-Dale Elementary in a letter to the community posted on the district website. She wrote that close contacts were identified and called.
Hall-Dale Elementary School’s hybrid learning structure will not be impacted by the one case.
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“No other schools in the RSU have received reports of new cases during or since vacation,” Arnold said in the letter.