By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

Usually at this point of the summer, there are always a few minor details Andy Madura needs to work out before students and staff return to school.

2020 has been unlike anything Madura has experienced in his 40 years employed by SAD 61.

“Never seen anything like it,” said Madura, who has been director of Facilities and Transportation since 1987, while adding Food Service to his list of responsibilities since 1995. “There just have been so many unknowns and changes in direction.”

SAD 61 received good news early in the summer that despite high Covid-19 numbers in Cumberland County (yet few cases in the Lake Region) the district was coded “green” enabling in-person instruction.

However, SAD 61 leadership took the conservative approach, only bringing back grades K-1 and special education students in self-contained programs for every day in-person instruction. High school vocational programming will also be offered in-person, every day. Remaining students will follow a hybrid model — attending in-person Monday and Wednesday, or Tuesday and Thursday.

While a small overall percentage (initially pegged at 15%) of parents will opt out and go with a 100% remote learning model, Madura and his staff have been busy for months preparing SAD 61 facilities for a reopening.

It has been intense.

It has posed many challenges.

And, despite a wide variety of measures and precautions, it is still unknown whether SAD 61 can avoid a return to full remote learning due to the pandemic.

At least Madura can say, SAD 61 has tried everything in its power to create a safe environment for staff and students.

It hasn’t been easy.

“No question, we’ve had our challenges,” Madura said. “Not only did we have to address required protocols, we also had other major projects (construction at Crooked River School and installation of a new hot water boiler, replacing one installed in 1968) that had to be tended to.”

Covid-19 locked down school systems in late March, but Madura said SAD 61 went into a pandemic cleaning mode much earlier — actually back in November when the district was seeing a number of flu cases.

“We’re pretty lucky here. We can staff custodians at the best level. When you look at standards across the country, there are different levels of cleaning. We’ve been able to staff that since I’ve been here. A number of my colleagues don’t have that,” Madura said. “We were able to get away from floor polishing and went to surface cleaning — phones, handles, door knobs. It was ongoing to the day Covid hit the country.”

When SAD 61 closed down in-person instruction by April, Madura’s crew were busy deep cleaning facilities — moving everything out of rooms, much like they do in the summer months — and disinfected every surface.

“Were we ready for this? I don’t think so. Our pandemic plan section in our emergency response book looked at everything that happened previously. Because of past instances (like avian flu), we put hand sanitizers in every classroom. There had been some changes because the best sanitizer has alcohol, 75%, but we ended up removing it because there were concerns of some kids ‘smelling’ it. So, we used sanitizer that didn’t meet the 75. One of our plans was to immediately pull them out and put in the pouches with alcohol,” Madura said. “Those events prior never reached the levels of the PPE and distancing. It is unchartered territory.”

SAD 61 has chartered the choppy waters caused by Covid-19 quite well by getting out front in purchasing needed items and developing a solid reopening plan.

“We first thought we would be out six to seven days and then be back in business again. We went through deep cleaning, which means we put our hands on every single thing in a classroom or break room. Everything is washed, cleaned and disinfected — ceiling to floor. As we move forward, we have a log that tells where people have been. Now, we’ll go in every night and be sure that every touch surface is cleaned. Difficult to do every night, but we’ve brought some tools — electrostatic sprayers — into our arsenal. It uses little less chemicals but allows it to dwell,” Madura said. “Initially, there were no disinfectants that had COVID killing agents. We were lucky about a month into it to find out that the cleaner we were using was in the EPA list to kill Covid. It was what we had been using since November. We’re looking to bring in another person during the day just to go around and do those common areas like bathrooms. Back in March, we had to pay our bus drivers and food service people, whether they worked or not. We brought in a number of them and they helped with the mobile food sites or cleaning to get their hours. Now, when school starts, I’d like to have the professional cleaners work at night, and utilize some of our bus drivers — if they want to work — to come in during the day.”

Nor has it been inexpensive to meet a variety of protocols. SAD 61 did receive $1 million in federal money to assist with reopening efforts. Money has been spent on a wide range of supplies as well as purchasing two buses to handle additional routes created to achieve social distancing requirements.

The biggest question was whether all kids were coming back or just some? A survey was sent to parents, but just 35% responded.

“From a transportation standpoint, we look big. The only way to do it is the worst-case scenario — every single person wants to ride the school bus. Early in the summer, we were looking at a CDC guidance of one student, every other row. That would give us 13 tops in a school bus. Those routes had 65 (our biggest number). We were scrambling on how many trips we need to do. Then it changed, you could put a student in every seat, so we were at 26. Now, we need double the number of buses. When you go to a cohort, where you are only bringing in half, in theory, we’d have room for that because if your average bus was 65, you cut it in half, 32-34, we’re almost there — and you can have siblings sit together. Everything keeps changing,” Madura said. “The last thing I want to see happen is rolling into a neighborhood and I don’t have a seat left for a student. When parents say they plan to bring their child to school in the morning, but the child will likely need a ride home, I book a seat.”

“X” marks will be taped to seats to show students where to sit. Madura admits there will be some “passing” as students take seats because younger children will occupy seats at the front of the bus — a safety measure, Madura says.

Madura said SAD 61 caught a break when it learned that 16 stock buses were available for purchase. He immediately contacted Superintendent Al Smith, and told him that if he had any inkling that SAD 61 might want to purchase a bus or two, the district needed to act, quickly. Using money from the federal grant, SAD 61 bought two buses. By the next day, all 16 were sold.

The decision to push the start of school to Sept. 14 was critical. It gives SAD 61 time to figure out who will be in which cohort (Monday-Wednesday or Tuesday-Thursday) and enable Madura to schedule transportation accordingly. It also allows the area to “cleanse” itself after weeks of tourists flocking to the Lake Region for vacations, Madura noted.

In the facilities, staff is completing cleanings and after Labor Day will be placing safety informational signs and stickers on walls and floors. Each desk will have a “privacy shield” to achieve another layer of protection, especially when children eat their lunches. With half of the student population in facilities, meeting 3-foot distancing standards in classrooms can be done, but not six-foot.

“In the back of our minds, we want to bring all of the kids back. Right now, I think the approach we are taking is a safe one. We can re-evaluate things in three to four weeks,” Madura said. “The biggest consideration is the eating part.”

At the middle school, three food distribution points — the cafeteria, gym and a kiosk near the library — will be used to keep students spaced out. Meanwhile, Madura is trying to find a way to keep the free meals program going. The grant ends this month, leaving a two-week gap until the start of school. Having served a high of 2,000 meals this summer and an average between 1,200 to 1,500 (with few meals not used), Madura sees a real need here. If the district is unable to gain a waiver, it could continue distributing meals at pick-up sites or even have bus drivers deliver to those unable to reach the sites.

Adjustments — based on what works and what does not after the first week — are a foregone conclusion.

From a supply standpoint, Madura says there remains a shortage of some supplies such as sanitized wipes and gloves. To compensate, SAD 61 will use its existing sanitizer and “make our own wipes” while higher grade gloves (on order but two to three months out from being delivered from abroad) will be given to those cleaning facilities, while “utility” gloves will go to others. He was able to secure between 100 to 150 temperature check units. School officials remain hopeful that parents are vigilant in checking their child’s temp and overall physical condition before sending them to school each day.

“There’s a lot of gouging and you wouldn’t believe the number of snake oil salesmen out there. You have to do your homework to find what you’re looking for,” Madura said.

Ventilation upgrades over the past few years put SAD 61 in good position when it comes to inside air quality, Madura pointed out. New units have been “phased in” over the past few years, with just a few more set for replacement. Madura says the district has been vigilant in its maintenance (from cleansing duct work to replacing filters). He did point out that “over” ventilation can be problematic. While units normally bring in 10% outside air, that figure will be moved up to the upper limit of 25%, which hospitals use as a standard. Ventilation systems in portable units will keep air quality where it needs to be as long as teachers keep units on (they tend to be noisy, Madura said) and open windows through the fall.

Playgrounds will be sanitized with sprayers following recesses, and signs will be posted informing the public that use it as one’s own risk. Mobile sanitizing stations will be placed outside when kids are on the playground.

Covid-19 has changed how schools will operate, and Madura feels, some effects will be long lasting. He sees daily cleaning practices becoming “standard procedure” as well as improved hygiene (hand washing) and more sanitizing stations.

“Everyone is doing everything they can to get kids back to school safely,” he said. “Will it all work? Time will tell.”