In Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12, green means go. A reopening plan the board passed Aug. 13, in person and on Youtube, has students in school five days a week or, if the state raises the COVID-19 risk level from green to yellow, two days a week for each student. Either way, under the plan, families can choose to go fully remote, Superintendent of Schools Howie Tuttle said.

The remote option was not an easy decision due to its added burden on teachers, but it recognizes that some families, about 20% in a survey, are interested, he said. His phone and principals’ phones have been ringing with calls from families anxious about fall, he said.

If the state moves one of SVRSU’s counties – Lincoln, Kennebec, or Waldo – to a higher risk level, all of SVRSU will adhere to that level, Tuttle told the board. He noted some districts are following models for a higher risk level than the state has assigned and, he said, they have their own reasons, “but for us, we’ve determined we can do (full-time)” if at green. At yellow, one group of students would be at school Monday and Tuesday, a second group Thursday and Friday, and Wednesdays would be remote for all. 

The vote ran 11-4, or 7,507-2,887 by weighted vote, Tuttle said. One of the dissenters, Alna’s Doug Morier, taking part remotely, asked Tuttle, who was in a mask at the meeting in Somerville, why students don’t have to be three feet apart on the bus like they have to be in class.

“We are literally just following the guidance from (Maine Department of Education) that said students can ride buses as long as the masks are on,” Tuttle responded. He added, some parents plan to drive their children to school or choose all remote learning, both of which he said will help make more room on buses. And a bus will “generally” have someone on board monitoring health and making sure students keep their masks on, he said.

“I’d hope over time kids will get used to the masks, and it won’t be a big deal, it’ll just be a part of life,” Tuttle said. Students will spend the day with their class or other grouping, and have lunch and any music or art with that group, in class, he said. Unlike last spring, since school will be open, students learning remotely can pick up materials and can meet with their teachers at school, he said.

School will let out earlier this fall, at 2 p.m., giving teachers time for prep and communicating with remote learners, the plan states. Fielding participants’ questions, Tuttle said having remote students take part in class via a live feed was considered, but the idea raised privacy concerns.

The reopening plan applies preK though grade eight; high school students will follow those schools’ plans, Tuttle said. A 41-member committee has worked diligently since June on SVRSU’s, with a goal to have students back in school as quickly as possible if that was allowable, Tuttle said. Without the state’s guidance, “this would be very confusing,” he said. 

He also told the board it would be “extremely confusing” if students could change back and forth from a remote choice to in person, so families must decide per semester. Exceptions would be considered case by case, such as if a parent’s employment changed; and a student or group of students would need to go remote while home on quarantine, Tuttle said. 

The plan will evolve with experience and continued state updates, he said. 

Westport Island representative Richard DeVries voted yes via remote. He commended the reopening plan committee for “a fantastic job.” A children’s hospital doctor he shared the draft with called it robust and a good job, he said.

In a phone interview, Tuttle said the split vote did not surprise him. After the meeting, how was he feeling about the full-time fall plan? “I’m very confident. Our teachers and support staff, everybody’s working really hard to make this plan work. We’re going to need to teach the kids how to wear masks. That’ll be different. But I feel right now based on the risk level of green, the very low risk level, it seems like the right way to approach this.

“But we’ll keep an eye on it,” he added.  

The board reelected Palermo’s Sandi Devaney chair and Chelsea’s Richard Cote vice chair.