Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 schools are closed through March 27, Superintendent of Schools Howie Tuttle confirmed Sunday afternoon in a text reply to Wiscasset Newspaper.

The district serves Alna, Westport Island, Whitefield, Somerville, Chelsea, Windsor and Palermo. Tuttle announced on svrsu.org: “All RSU 12 schools will be closed for two weeks from March 16-March 27 in order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The situation will be revisited next week. Educators will be developing plans for the continuity learning to be ready later this week.”

Tuttle later provided a letter. It reads:

“Dear RSU 12 Community, 

“All schools in RSU 12 will be closed to students from Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 27, 2020. RSU 12 is closing in response to the recommendations of medical professionals to implement practices of social distancing as we all work to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). We currently do not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in RSU 12, though we know the virus is present in Maine. We are taking this proactive approach out of an abundance of caution to hopefully limit the spread of COVID-19 cases in Maine.

“After consultation with medical providers, the Maine Department of Education, and other area superintendents yesterday and today, we have decided that schools in RSU 12 will be closed to students beginning tomorrow, March 16, 2020. Next week, we will reevaluate the situation to determine what is the next course of action.

“We will be developing plans for continuity of learning opportunities and will distribute those plans as soon as we are adequately prepared. We hope to be in a position to offer educational services in a few days.

“We will be meeting with community food providers to ensure that we can continue to feed those students who will require our assistance. The plan for food assistance will be available as soon as possible.

“We know that this extended closing will be a tremendous strain on some families depending on your personal situations. We did not make this decision lightly. We are doing our part to practice social distancing in an effort to minimize the impact of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and keep our community as healthy as possible ...

“Thank you for your understanding, flexibility, and sacrifice during this unprecedented health emergency.”