FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9 parents and community members were informed Tuesday evening at 6:35 p.m. that Mt. Blue Middle School and High School would be closed on Wednesday out of an abundance of caution.
The Mt. Blue Regional School District Facebook post read, “Dear RSU 9 Community, out of an abundance of caution, and with guidance from the Maine CDC [Center for Disease Control], we will be having a full remote learning day for grades 6-12 tomorrow, Wednesday, November 18th. Students, please check Google Classroom for specific instructions. Staff members, please check your email for building-related information. Please stand by for updated information as we receive more guidance from the Maine CDC.”
Superintendent Tina Meserve said that the district is very limited in what information they can release since they have not yet heard from the CDC.
“So what I can say is we have no known exposure right now, but we have a concern and so we put a call in to the CDC to ask them about it, but we weren’t able to get a hold of them last night,” Meserve said in a phone interview Wednesday morning. “It did not require a closure of the schools, but with cases rising everywhere, we just thought that it made sense to be extra cautious and wait until we heard from the CDC so that we’d know for sure.”
Franklin County was designated to the higher risk “yellow” category by the state’s Department of Education on Nov. 6. This classification recommends that schools consider hybrid instruction to reduce exposure to COVID-19. As of Nov. 13, five of Maine’s 16 counties are classified as yellow.
Meserve said that at the moment, the closure is a cautious step and that no further action may be necessary depending on the CDC’s response.
“It could mean that we might have to do some contact-tracing and they might just say, no, there’s no known exposure at the schools and there’s nothing you need to do further,” Meserve said. “Again, until we have that information, we’re just being cautious until we know what’s happening.”
This story will be updated.
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