The Cape Elizabeth school board approved new COVID-19 mitigation measures Aug. 16 for the 2021-2022 school year.
The strategies include universal masking for everyone in a school building or transport vehicle, no matter their vaccination status. Exceptions include staff working alone; students eating at least 3 feet apart and facing in the same direction; and staff eating at least 6 feet apart.
Schools will also practice as much social distancing as possible on school transportation, in classrooms and in the cafeteria. Daily symptom checklists will be conducted by guardians to report absences related to COVID-19 symptoms. Staff will wipe down surfaces at least once a day, in addition to nightly disinfection. Non-essential visitors/volunteers will be limited inside school buildings. Hand sanitation will be practiced.
New this year, pooled testing will be offered to all students and staff on a voluntary basis. According to an announcement on the school board’s website, swabs will be taken from approximately 20 people and combined into one batch that will be tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Pooled tests that reveal positive results will require that all individuals in same group be retested to determine which person(s) are positive. Both the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maine Department of Education endorse pooled testing.
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