As you are probably well aware, at this time, the decision whether to open or close schools is being left to superintendents. After consultation with the Maine, Department of Education and other superintendents yesterday and today, I have decided that schools in the AOS will be closed to students beginning tomorrow and will remain closed until the conclusion of the Spring vacation period. At that time we will reevaluate what is the next course of action.

Administrators and teachers will report to work on Monday as normal. We will be developing plans for remote learning opportunities and will distribute that plan as soon as we are adequately prepared. I envision that we will be in a position to offer educational services by the end of the week.

Tomorrow (March 16) we will be meeting with community food providers to ensure that we can continue to feed those students who will require our assistance. That plan will be forthcoming in the next few days.

This is a decision I am not taking lightly. I know that it will be a tremendous strain on some of our families and our employees depending on each of your personal situations. Nonetheless, we must do our part in practicing social distancing in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus and keep our community as healthy as possible.

If you have any questions, please feel me to email me at info@aos98schools.org or call my office at 633-2874. Thank you for your understanding during this modern unprecedented health emergency.