Administration also encourages schools to participate in Maine’s free pooled testing program 

Augusta – The Mills Administration today informed Maine School Administrative Units (SAUs) that it expects all schools to offer full-time, in-person learning this fall. 

In its priority notice, which provides planning guidance to schools for educational programming this summer and next fall, the Maine Department of Education announced that remaining physical distancing requirements will be relaxed next school year and that schools should offer full-time, in-person learning in the fall as a result.  

The Department Of Education also strongly encourages schools to participate in Maine’s free pooled testing program. Offered to all schools, the testing option will protect those students for whom a COVID-19 vaccine has not yet been authorized and will minimize education disruption and exclusion from extracurricular activities for a student or staff member who is quarantined after being identified as a close contact.  

“Classroom instruction is critical for the social and mental development of our kids,” said Governor Janet Mills. “School administrators and teachers have worked hard all year to protect their students from the virus, provide them with a good education, and meet many of their other needs. With the progress we’ve made in vaccinating Maine people, we want to make sure that there are no barriers to getting our kids back into the classroom full-time.” 

“Schools have worked tirelessly all year to safely provide for the academic, nutritional and social emotional needs of their students, and will welcome these next steps toward a return to business as usual,” said Pender Makin, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Education. “While we still have students who will return to school this summer or in the fall who are not yet eligible for vaccination, the lessons learned from this school year, along with additional safety options such as pooled testing, will ensure a healthy and joyful return to the classrooms.”  

“Getting all students back in classrooms full time this fall will be possible with vaccination progress and tools like pooled COVID-19 testing,” said Jeanne Lambrew, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. “Safety protocols will continue to be needed, though, to protect students, school staff, and teachers from COVID-19 which continues to pose a public health threat.” 

Additionally, the Administration updated Maine’s PK-12 and Adult Education Public Health Guidance for Summer 2021 school programs to eliminate the remaining distancing requirements for schools and programs that participate in the pooled testing program. Other health and safety protocols remain in effect for summer programming. 

The Maine Department of Education also announced that it will provide grant funding to support summer implementation of the pooled testing program. As of June 9, 33 organizations — including 88 schools and camps encompassing an estimated 27,795 students, 2,802 teachers, and 2,012 staff — are participating in pooled testing. 

Since the fall of 2020, nearly all Maine preK-12 schools have been providing in-person instruction to students and have been successful at limiting COVID-19 transmission, keeping new case rates in schools significantly below that of the statewide average.  

With Maine’s significant progress in vaccinating its population and reducing the spread of COVID-19, the Administration has been gradually relaxing physical distancing requirements in schools that participate in the pooled testing program, beginning last month with the three first distance requirement in classroom space.

Vaccination continues to be the best strategy to reduce the transmission and impact of the COVID-19 virus. On May 10, youth ages 12 to 15 were authorized to receive the Pfizer vaccine. As of June 8, 39 percent of Maine youth in this age group had received a first dose and 16 percent had received final doses. 

Schools have also supported vaccination efforts by hosting vaccination clinics either onsite or in partnership with other clinics and by providing information to families about why, how, and where to receive a vaccine. 

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All counties remain green

Maine DHHS and CDC, in conjunction with Maine DOE, will now shift to updating the color-coded health advisory for in-person learning only as needed over the course of the summer

AUGUSTA — The Mills Administration today released an update to its color-coded Health Advisory System that classifies counties’ relative risk of COVID-19 transmission to assist schools as they continue with their efforts to deliver instruction and support students safely.

Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) assessed COVID-19 data and trends for all counties and released the following designations:

• All counties remain green. All counties have a COVID-19 positivity rate below 5 percent, and the new case rate per 10,000 has fallen in nearly all counties.

These designations are made out of an abundance of caution and for the consideration of school administrative units in their decisions to deliver instruction. DHHS and Maine CDC continue to review evidence that indicates lower transmission of COVID-19 in schools compared to the general population.

The rate of new cases for school staff and students has fallen by nearly one-quarter since the update two weeks ago, to 30 per 10,000 over the last 30 days, about 21 percent lower than a new case rate of 38 per 10,000 for the general population during the same time period.

This continues to demonstrate that in-person learning in schools that follow public health precautions can be conducted safely, without increased transmission of COVID-19, when schools use proven health and safety protocols and resources.

The Health Advisory System categorizations are defined as follows:

• RED: Categorization as “red” suggests that the county has a high risk of COVID-19 spread and that in-person instruction is not advisable.
• YELLOW: Categorization as “yellow” suggests that that the county has an elevated risk of COVID-19 spread and that schools may consider additional precautions and/or hybrid instructional models to reduce the number of people in schools and classrooms at any one time.
• GREEN: Categorization as “green” suggests that the county has a relatively low risk of COVID-19 spread and that schools may consider in-person instruction, as long as they are able to implement the required health and safety measures.  Schools in a “green” county may need to use hybrid instruction models if there is insufficient capacity or other factors (facilities, staffing, geography/transportation, etc.) that may prevent full implementation of the health and safety requirements.

The Health Advisory System reflects ongoing analysis of evolving data, and serves as one piece of information that school and district leaders can use to make decisions about how to deliver education during the school year. The qualitative and quantitative considerations and data used by the CDC in determining community transmission risk levels for schools can be located here: How County Risk Levels for Maine Schools are Determined.

Maine schools have been safely open since the fall by adhering to the six requirements for returning to in-person instruction and by following the protocols for identifying close contacts that are found in the Standard Operating Procedure for a positive case in schools, regardless of their county color designation.

Maine DHHS and CDC, in conjunction with Maine DOE,  will now shift to updating the color-coded health advisory for in-person learning  only as needed over the course of the summer.

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As the 130^th Maine Legislature begins to conclude their work over the coming weeks, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) will provide brief updates to highlight recently passed legislation and pertinent programming updates.

Public Law, Chapter 75, An Act to Assist Students in Preparing for Opportunities to Live and Work in Maine was signed by Governor Mills on May 25, 2021. The DOE is thrilled to continue our ongoing work with our colleagues from the Maine Department of Labor’s Center for Workforce Research and Information, the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, and local educators to create meaningful resources to support the future success of Maine students.

Throughout the summer, the DOE will release information to support the understanding of statewide employment projections, career exploration, and extended learning opportunities. The resources will be aligned with the 2020 Maine Learning Results Life and Career Ready Standards and be developmentally appropriate for students in grades 6-12.

The Department is pleased to share the following resources:

• Extended Learning Opportunities Definitions
• Internship Agreement Packet
• Job Shadow Agreement Packet 

The guidance documents are intended to support the development of student career aspirations and exploration articulated in the Strands B and C of the 2020 Maine Learning Results Life and Career Ready Standards. School Administrative Units (SAUs) are encouraged to adapt the documents to align with their local policies. For more information, please contact Maine DOE Life and Career Ready Education Specialist, Diana Doiron at diana.doiron@maine.gov.