Friday, January 8, 2021

Friday Update 1/8/21

Dear RSU 71 Students, Families, Staff, School Board and Community Members,  


I hope your 2021 is off to a good start.


This Friday's update includes information about deterring the coronavirus's spread, a new "SARA Alert" system, as well as resources to help address the political climate of this moment in our shared history. As of today, Waldo County is still designated as "Green." We have no active cases in our district and no outbreaks or evidence of transmission in our eleven areas. These include BAHS, BCOPE, THMS, CASS, Nickerson, East Belfast, Ames, Weymouth, Bus Garage, Adult Ed, and Central Office.


Sara Alert: Maine residents who have been identified as a close contact of a COVID-19 positive person and need support during the quarantine.  You may request this assistance by using this online form: 

https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/form/covid-19-referral-form

 

Additional information about community care and social support is available here:

https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/coronavirus-resources/support-for-isolation-quarantine or you can send an email to dhhs. covid.socials. If you are a staff person or a student identified as a close contact of a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 at school. The school will be notified through a phone call or email and provided initial guidance on the next steps, including quarantining and testing.  Once you have received notification from the school, the Maine CDC's Sara Alert system will begin sending you follow-up guidance via text messages.  

 

Sara Alert is an automated system that uses daily text messages to help people who have been identified as close contacts to monitor for symptoms after exposure.  All students and staff will be enrolled in Sara Alert if they are identified as having been in close contact with a COVID-19 positive person while at school.  

 

There is nothing required of you to be automatically enrolled in this service.  If, however, you would like to opt-out of Sara Alert, please contact your school nurse.  If you opt-out of the Sara Alert system and are later identified as a close contact to a positive case. You will receive follow-up phone calls to confirm you have opted not to receive the Maine CDC's automated text messages.  

 

Additional assistance is provided at toupport@Maine.gov.


The Might of the Invisible Things: We know that wind is mighty even though it is invisible. We see and feel its presence and absence: swirls of golden leaves falling from trees in autumn, downed powerlines in the storms of winter, the sway of green grass come spring, and the need to use fans on hot summer days when there is nary a breeze. We also see and feel the power of love, which is also invisible, in our attachments to friends, families, and colleagues, and the damaging effects of love's absence in the daily lives of too many people. Nevertheless, it has been hard for many good folks to believe in the reality of the invisible COVID-19, though its presence among us is manifest; in the U.S., 21 million people have contracted the disease, and 356,000 citizens have died. Unlike the powers of the wind and love, the power of the coronavirus has no beneficence. RSU 71 students, families, staff, and community members continue to be vigilant as this sad saga wears on and try our best to follow safety guidelines. Keep up the excellent work!!

Swiss Cheese Metaphor - In this week's Marshall Memo, an article by Siobhan Roberts is profiled about the "Swiss cheese" model for maximizing protection against the coronavirus. The idea is that no single layer of defense is perfect – every slice of Swiss cheese has holes – but the more layers between you and the virus, the less chance viral particles have of getting into your body. 
Here is a graphic of the model:



There are five things every individual can do to help avoid spread:

  1. Maintain physical distance from others who are not in your "bubble;"
  2. Wear a mask;
  3. Wash hands and use hand sanitizer
  4. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze
  5. Not touch your face;
  6. Limit your time in crowded situations.

And there are five shared responsibilities:
  1. Fast and sensitive testing and tracing (our RSU 71 nurses work closely with CDC);
  2. Good ventilation for outdoor interactions (many of our RSU 71 learning activities are still outdoors) and effective indoor ventilation and air filtration (we have installed 02 Prime in all our buildings);
  3. Clear messaging from experts (Maine CDC has daily briefs, DOE has weekly county-color-code briefs);
  4. Quarantine and isolation for infected people and those exposed to them (again are school nurses, families, and staff have been terrific);
  5. Vaccines (should be coming our way, the sooner, the better).
The more layers, the better, says Dr. Julie Gerberding, a scientist at Merck: "Pretty soon you've created an impenetrable barrier, and you really can quench the transmission of the virus. But it requires all of those things, not just one of those things. "Beating the Pandemic with a Swiss Cheese Defense" by Siobhan Roberts 12/8/2020

Politics and Climate: Finally, I want to acknowledge that staff and students are managing the fallout from this moment in American history. Here are a few resources made available to me by Shannon Shimer, our school counselor at East Belfast and Kermit Nickerson Schools:

Sending warm wishes for good health, safety, and progress toward attainment of New Year Goals, 

Mary Alice                                          

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Mary Alice McLean
Superintendent of Schools, RSU 71
(207) 338 - 1960