Superintendent of Schools Terry Wood told the Wiscasset School Committee Tuesday night, Aug. 10, she will put together a draft for the school re-entry plan and present it at an emergency meeting later this month. Wood and all Maine superintendents met Monday with Commissioner of Education Pender Makin and learned the state would release new guidelines for schools in the coming days. Wood said there will likely be new guidelines around quarantining, social distancing, masking and pool testing.

“We will not be doing remote, we will be doing hybrid…and the state’s intention is to have all students in school every day,” said Wood. Wood also said she will recommend all students and staff be fully masked. “My responsibility is to keep kids safe and there is no vaccine for kids under 12. With the variant and everything else, we need to do everything we can to keep them safe.”

Wood also said she would have updated enrollment numbers after the return to school plan is released and parents have had a chance to read it.

Wood reported she and Wiscasset Middle High School Principal Chuck Lomonte attended a recent Dresden selectboard meeting as the board was discussing Dresden’s possible withdrawal from Regional School Unit 2. Wood said two of the board members came right up to her and Lomonte after the meeting and were asking how much it would cost to bring their students back to Wiscasset.

“They asked if we would be able to house 150 students and we said ‘Absolutely!’” said Wood. Lomonte said they also asked if they would have a seat on the Wiscasset School Committee if their students did return. Wood and Lomonte will keep in touch with Dresden as the withdrawal effort moves forward.

Lomonte reported that, despite all the challenges of the past year, WMHS students made gains in their test scores from the fall to the spring. He said on the NWEA tests, “every grade level 6-10, with the exception of ninth grade ELA, made gains and that’s something to be very proud of.” Wood noted the elementary school grades made gains as well.

New Wiscasset Elementary School Principal Kathleen Pastore thanked everyone for the warm welcome over the summer. She said, “the last couple of weeks I've had an opportunity to sit down with many staff members, informally. The teachers are so dedicated, they're so passionate, they're so knowledgeable, and I'm thrilled and excited about working here with your community.”

WES teacher Carole Adams expressed her worries about going back to school without masks. “I totally support the idea of masking this year and it’s so worrying the number of children coming down with this. As a teacher this past year, the children were amazing, it was not a problem for them that I could see. The children just adapted.”

Resident Chet Grover asked that the board use current numbers of cases when making the decision, citing low numbers in the region. “I hope you’ll take a look at where we are now and give that strong consideration.”

The committee re-elected Michael Dunn chair. Jason Putnam and Michelle Blagdon were nominated for vice chair. Putnam was elected with three votes to Blagdon’s two.

Sept. 7 is the first day of school.