In a plan Wiscasset’s school committee passed 4-1 Tuesday night, students would be at school two days a week starting Sept. 8, Mondays and Tuesdays or in another group Thursdays and Fridays, learning three feet apart, in masks when in school or on a bus, and six feet apart when the masks are off for eating; or a family could keep the learning remote; some students’ schedules might differ, and pre-k would attend four half days a week, a.m. or p.m., Superintendent of Schools Dr. Terry Wood said.

Wednesdays will be remote learning and, for teachers, time to talk with parents and to plan, Wood said. Sept. 3 and 4, teachers and custodians will set up classrooms based on the new spacing and other requirements. School will look different, and students will need “reteaching” about school,  she said. They and staff will get training on hand hygiene, face coverings and social distancing, according to the draft plan Wood shared in the Zoom meeting. She, most committee members and Administrative Assistant Stacey Souza were in the Wiscasset Elementary School cafeteria in masks and sitting apart. 

Wood said she keeps telling staff, “We’ve got this.”

The plan notes the superintendent can change the plan based on the department’s priorities, including student, staff and community safety; and further state and federal guidance, including from Maine Department of Education.

A survey of families’ plans on school and transportation was to go out Aug. 12 and be completed by Aug. 17. Families not responding can expect phone calls, according to the survey. Still to come are students’ assignments to a group to attend school on Mondays and Tuesdays or Thursdays and Fridays. Factors might include parent preferences for all their children to be in the same group, officials said. Wood added, a third group would be for students on different schedules.

Indriani Demers voted against the reopening plan. In an email response to a request for comment, Demers said learning should stay remote pending a vaccine and medication for COVID-19. “I don't want to risk students' and/or educators' lives. I don't want to carry the burden of feeling guilty if/when one student/adult dies of COVID from being in school ... We need to be responsible and do the right thing.”

Demers wrote, “I am an educator in Portland and so is my only child, a daughter, and I hope that the school board members in Portland will also let us go fully remote until there is a vaccine and medication to fight the virus ... Remember, this is not permanent, this is temporary and what is a loss of academics to a loss of life?”

The draft plan, and Wood as she explained it and at other points in the meeting, emphasized training and precautions, such as having hand sanitizer by the gallon, ordering tents to increase outdoor class time, and locally buying 100 fans to help air circulate. She and Transportation and Facilities Director John Merry said that is enough fans for all WES and Wiscasset Middle High School classrooms to each have one, with some fans left over.

“We’re really looking at making sure that we have everything set for school ...,” Wood said. “Staff have been really good. There are so many hoops that we’re jumping through, but we’re making sure that we are following all of the safety guidelines.” 

Merry told the committee via Zoom, for an estimated $172,000, Siemens would put both schools in its new O2 Prime program of “bipolar ionization.” Merry said it works through a building’s ventilation system. “It ... attacks bacteria and any of the bad stuff,” killing it by removing the hydrogen it needs to survive. Belfast and Falmouth have signed on, he said.

“It’s expensive, but I’m trying to think outside the box where we’ve got older facilities and we don’t have a lot of mechanical ventilation,” Merry said. Chair Michael Dunn and Wood briefly discussed maybe using CARES Act funds toward the program. Merry will find out when the department would need to sign onto the program to have the work done by the start of the school year.

Also Aug. 11, the committee kept Dunn as chair and Jason Putnam as vice chair; hired Tamia Welch for a one-year, fourth grade teaching job, Seth Platukis to teach science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and career and technical education, and Jessica Anderson to teach special education; and gave substitute teachers and educational technicians a $5 a day raise, to $90.

According to information the department provided Wednesday, substitutes for secretaries and food service workers will move from $12 to $13 an hour; substitute custodians, from $12-$14, to $15; van drivers, from $12 to $14; and bus drivers, from $17.25-$18 to the new rate of $19 an hour. The aim is to be more competitive, officials said.