Dear RSU 26 School Community,

This week an update on the planning for reopening in the fall was presented at a RSU 26 Board of Directors meeting.  We want to share this information with the entire school community in order to begin to give everyone a picture of how the plan is taking shape.  The presentation and draft overview can be found on our website (link: COVID-19 Resources). These documents give an update on the research, discussions, and planning accomplished to date, as well as a preliminary framework for reopening that reflects our thinking about where we are most likely to be when we start school in August.  The framework is very broad and is now being turned over to school teams to work on the many details that need to be figured out for each school.  There is certainly district-wide planning and coordination efforts that will continue alongside the schools work on the detailed plans under the framework.

We know that you want answers about what the start of school is going to look like and we hope to provide those soon.  The board will likely move forward with the next level of planning at their next meeting on August 4th.  Look for a survey to come out next week for families to complete on a more specific level than the previous anonymous survey.

I recognize this is a lot of information coming all at once.  It has felt like the pieces of the planning were quite fragmented and tentative, and they have slowly come together as the picture has begun to come into greater focus.  Next week we are holding virtual Q & A sessions (see below for Zoom links and dates/times) for the community in order to share more information, answer your questions, listen to ideas and generally talk about this plan.

Community Q & A Sessions

Wednesday, July 29th, 10:00 am – Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/99897843033

Thursday, July 30th, 5:00 pm – Zoom link:  https://zoom.us/j/95785162467

As I said at this week’s Board meeting, I think we have to walk before we run as we reopen in the fall and this plan feels like the right balance to be able to do just that.  I want to thank the Reopening Advisory Committee members – this has been difficult and time consuming work. I know they, like me, all feel the weight of this work.  Thank you for all you are doing to keep our state and community among the safest places to live right now!

Regards,

Meredith Higgins

RSU 26 Superintendent