SCARBOROUGH — Parents who have questions about Scarborough School’s reopening plan for the 2020 academic year can now access a Frequently Asked Questions page on the district’s website.

The information is in answer to public questions about a drafted reopening plan, which the School Board approved on July 30.

“Gov. Janet Mills recently released a color-coded reopening scenario (based on infection data by county) for public schools to follow,” Superintendent Sanford Prince wrote in a letter to families and staff. “The Department of Education (DOE) is reviewing data from our Cumberland County towns to examine the level of community spread of COVID-19. We have been informed that these bi-weekly metrics are expected to be shared with the District on July 31, 2020 and will inform us about the level of ‘in person’ instruction Scarborough Schools will be able to provide. We have planning in place for all scenarios.”

The three colors in the scenario correspond to red meaning remote learning, green meaning in-person learning, and yellow meaning a mix of in-person and remote learning, according to the district’s reopening plan, which can also be accessed at sites.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/sps/news/draftreopeningschoolplan.

The district charged the School Transition Reopening Redesign Taskforce, created earlier this year, to develop a plan that considered input from public health officials, the Maine Department of Education, and the Maine CDC, Prince said. Families and staff were also invited to take surveys about the developing plan in June.

Some requirements from the Department of Education and CDC state that everyone in the school building must wear masks at all times and must remain three to six feet apart, Prince said.

In order to meet these health guidelines, the district is planning on separating students into two groups, which will attend school and remote classes on alternating days, the plan says. For the hybrid model, group A will met on Monday and Tuesday, and Group B will attend school on Thursday and Friday.

The FAQ sheet has answers about how groups will be sorted and what schedules may look like.

Scarborough Schools received over $2.1 million through the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund, distributed to each school district in Maine, that will support non-budgeted costs for reopening schools, the FAQ page says.

“We appreciate your patience and support as we prepare for a strong start to the 2020-2021 school year,” Prince told the community. “As always, we will do what is best for our students knowing that we want to provide safe and inclusive learning environments to ensure their learning.”

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