By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

To mask or not to mask inside local schools was the hotly debated question as SAD 61 looked to finalize its reopening plan.

Two months ago, Superintendent Al Smith proposed schools try to get back to “normalcy” best it could, returning to five days a week, in-person learning and retiring masks.

Today, Covid-19 infection numbers are on the rise once more, triggered by the more contagious Delta variant.

With the start of school just weeks away, Smith recommended mandatory mask wearing for all staff, students and visitors inside SAD 61 facilities. 

“I am recommending that with the current situation, I believe it prudent for Pre-K to 12, staff and visitors returning to school follow health and safety protocols, including masking indoors,” Smith said. 

He noted that multiple mask breaks would be built into the school day; no masks will be required outdoors; masks will come off to eat lunch; masking will not be required for adults not in the company of students; and athletes will follow current health guidelines.

“I am hoping this is short term,” Smith said. “There have been multiple meetings over the last two weeks with Dr. Shah and the Commissioner of Education, and it only makes sense to go in this direction.”

Governor Janet Mills on July 28 announced Maine will follow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s updated face-covering guidelines which recommend:

• All people regardless of vaccination status, wear face coverings in indoor, public settings in areas with “substantial” or “high levels” of community transmission.

• All teachers, staff and students in K-12 schools wear face coverings regardless of vaccination status or community transmission level. 

• A new federal mandate requires students to wear masks on school buses for 2021-22.

Consistent with Maine’s recent approach to COVID-19-related policy and the expiration of the State of Civil Emergency, these changes are recommendations, not requirements, the governor’s office noted.

With school board directors and Smith masked in the Lake Region Vocational Center’s Great Room, over 90 people were logged in remotely. Several parents chimed in regarding whether or not to make mask wearing mandatory.

Michelle Thibodeau, who has two students at Crooked River Elementary, feels masking should be optional and left up to parents. She felts masks were a “huge distraction” for her children. When she saw photos from the last week of school during Electronics Day, Thibodeau said many students were wearing the masks incorrectly.

Amy Morton, who has students at CRES and Songo Locks, felt the few mask breaks penciled in to the school day were “not enough,” and added that it is important for her kids to “see the teacher speaking.”

“I feel strongly masks should be optional, a parent’s choice. We make medical decisions for our children,” she said.

Katie Chalmers, a parent from Bridgton, supports following the masking recommendation made by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. She made note of a comment made this week by former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who said, “I can’t think of a business right now that would put 30 unvaccinated people in a confined space without masks and keep them there for the whole day. No business would do that responsibly. And yet, that’s what we’re going to be doing in some schools. So, I think we need to enter the school year with a degree of humility and prudence.”

Dr. Gottlieb argued that it would be unsafe to allow students to return without mask mandates. “This strain is clearly more transmissible. It’s going to be harder to control in a school setting. I wouldn’t be withdrawing these things (safety protocols,” he added.

National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said Sunday that the highest number of children — 1,450 — were currently hospitalized with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

Chalmers is concerned that if families are allowed to choose whether children wear a mask or not, other children could face peer pressure or be bullied to remove their mask. Her own children have said that if masks are not required, they would presently “not feel safe at school” and thus prefer to be homeschooled.

Erin Sampson, who has two elementary-age students, also supported masking. She cited intensive care units are filling up across the country due to another Covid surge. If one feels the virus is no longer a danger, Sampson feels that is “shortsighted.” Masking, she added, is “a highly effective tool to stop the spread of Covid-19” and it “works best when all wear a mask, not just one person.”

One parent said her children are “high risk,” and noted the job of the school board is to keep kids safe.

“This whole thing is crazy. We all have to give a little during this crazy time. We are all doing things we don’t want to do. We need to care about others to get through this, and the only way to get through it is by sticking together,” she said.

Morton responded, “I keep hearing people talking about fair and unfair….My children and others have tried to do the right thing for over a year. No one wants to see anyone get sick. If a child is high risk, (the child) should stay at home under any circumstance (like cold or flu season). It’s not all about high risk kids. I do feel terrible for them. We need to think of all children. And their mental health.”

The school board also heard from a fifth grader, who said he dislikes masks because they are “uncomfortable” and if he wears it too long, he has “trouble thinking straight because it digs into the back of my ears and I can’t focus.”

Parent Christine Brown spoke against masking, noting that children have been “living openly without masks all summer.” She asked whether teachers or staff monitored whether students washed their masks to prevent them from becoming “breeding grounds for bacteria.”

Sampson responded saying better constructed masks — greater filtration, more breathability, better fit — are available today.

“The pandemic is not over.  A lot of people are feeling it’s no longer an issue. Summer activities are outside, and still cases are popping up with kids,” Sampson said. “I consider unvaccinated, unmasked children inside to be extraordinarily risky.”

Maureen McAllister suggested that masking be in place until vaccination is available to younger children, at which time, “there’s a choice.”

Bridgton Director Pamela Brucker said the school board has both a legal and moral responsibility when it comes to children’s wellbeing while in SAD 61’s care. She added that every child— high risk or not — is entitled to a public-school education under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

“I acknowledge this (masking) is not an ideal situation for everyone and it won’t be popular how things go,” Smith said. “It is valuable for all of us to be supportive and wear masks.”

The School Board approved the masking measure with one dissenting vote, cast by Casco Director Ric Robinson. The Newsattempted to seek comment from Robinson regarding his vote, but were unable to gain a response by press time.

Smith noted that the state is requiring all school districts to report by school the number of students and staff who are vaccinated. This report is due on a monthly basis, beginning Sept. 1.

School opens in SAD 61 on Wednesday, Sept. 1 for Grades K-5 and Grades 6 &9. The first day for Grades 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 is Thursday, Sept. 2.

Pool testing — A tool in the Covid fight

Another element of the SAD 61 Reopening Plan is the use of pool testing.

District Nurse Coordinator Laurie Porter, R.N., gave a quick walk-through how pool testing will work.

First, parent permission is needed. A permission form will be provided and can be completed online or in paper form, which will be sent via mail and e-mail.

At least 30% of staff and students in each school would need to participate for this strategy to work properly. 

“I am very hopeful that we will have a much larger percentage of who are willing to participate in our pooled testing,” Smith said. 

Testing takes place weekly in each school with a nurse. 

How it works: students (up to 25 in a classroom) self-swab the lower exterior portion of their nose, not the upper nose into the membrane. Their samples are placed in a single tube. The tube is then run using one test, and the classroom is provided with one result in 48 hours.

If the result is “positive,” then each participant in that pool is tested with a rapid antigen test to identify the positive case. Only thatindividual must quarantine.

“It is both simple and non-invasive,” officials said.

A minimum of five tests are needed.

“I would be surprised not to have a minimum of five per class based on the ramifications,” said Smith, if parents don’t opt in to pool testing.

The hope is to start pool testing the first day of school, but the effort will more likely begin once all consent forms from parents are in, thus a target of before Oct. 1.

Why participation in pool testing is advantageous? If a student/staff participate in the pooled testing program, they can remain in school even if there is a positive class in a classroom. If a student or staff member tests positive for Covid-19 through pooled testing, only that person would need to quarantine; the rest of the class can remain in school. This is different from last year when a positive case would result in quarantining an entire class and/or school bus. 

Pooled testing will also be used with all school sports teams. This means student athletes would be tested twice a week. If pooled testing identifies a positive case, only that athlete would need to be quarantined; the rest of the team would still be able to continue practices and games. 

Smith noted that the district has hired an extra registered nurse to monitor and participate in the pool testing process.

To see how pool testing is working in other school systems, Smith contacted a familiar program — Dover-Foxcroft — which has a “robust” summer school program. Smith learned that there was just one positive case there, and “no negative situations with kids doing it.”

Both Smith and Porter agreed that with younger children, the swabbing and process will take just a short time to learn and will become routine.

While noting that the high school vaccination rate is over 50%, Smith admitted he has been “on the fence” to require individuals to show vaccination cards. To date, he has used the “honesty approach.” 

When students are vaccinated, it becomes part of their medical file, which the school nurse has access to.

Parent Rae-Anne Nguyen questioned how the school would determine if other students were exposed to a child that tested positive for the virus?

Like last year, contact tracing would be done — tracking the child’s entire day to determine who he/she was with, for how long, and if the students were Grade 7 and above, if they were vaccinated.

“We hope to pick up on positives early,” Smith said.

Parent Katie Chalmers noted that a large percentage of sixth graders are presently not eligible for the vaccine, so she wondered if that population of students would not mix with Grades 7 and 8, who could be vaccinated.

Smith said sixth graders will stay together, and not mix with the other two grades.