RSU 14 students preparing for return to school

Students in RSU 14 start back to school on Aug. 309 through
Sept. 6, depending upon their grade level.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE 

By Ed Pierce

Words that every parent in Windham and Raymond has come to appreciate are about to be spoken yet again as the final days of summer are ending for students with school back in session in just a matter of days now.

Classes in RSU 14 resume for Grades 1 to Grade 9 on Tuesday, Aug. 30 with Windham High School students in Grades 10 to Grade 12 returning to the classroom on Wednesday, Aug. 31. Depending upon notification from the school principal, students in Pre-K and Kindergarten have their first day of the 2022-2023 school year on Thursday, Sept. 1 or Tuesday, Sept. 6 with classes split in half on those days.

All students will be off on Friday, Sept. 2 and Monday, Sept. 5 for the Labor Day holiday.

Orientation for new staff members and teachers is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 24, and will be followed by two days of teacher in-service training on Thursday, Aug. 25 and Friday, Aug. 26.

All school principals in RSU 14 are returning this fall, with the exception being at Jordan-Small Middle School in Raymond, where Michelle Brann has replaced Randy Crockett as principal. 

Ryan Caron is the principal of Windham High School, with Drew Patin returning as the principal at Windham Middle School. At Windham Primary School, Dr. Kyle Rhoads is the principal and Danielle Donnini leads Manchester School as principal. Beth Peavey is the principal of Raymond Elementary School.

Christopher Howell is the RSU 14 Superintendent of Schools and Christine Frost-Bertinet is the assistant superintendent. Kate Brix serves as chair of the RSU 14 Board of Directors.

Other key positions for the school district for the 2022-2023 school year include Director of School Nutrition Jeanne Reilly, Director of Facilities Bill Hansen, Adult Education Director Thomas Nash, Director of Transportation Mike Kelly, Director of Technology Robert Hickey, and Director of Curriculum Christine Hesler.

For parents of student-athletes participating in fall sports at Windham High School, a “Meet the Coaches” night will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 31 in the high school auditorium.

Windham Middle School sign-ups for student-athletes will be conducted on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, with tryouts and practices for WMS fall sports scheduled to open Wednesday, Sept. 7.

Following the Labor Day holiday break, the next scheduled day off from instruction for students will be Monday, Oct. 10 to observe Indigenous People’s Day.

According to information contained in the latest RSU 14 newsletter, district schools will continue to be mask optional and will follow the CDC current recommendation of a five-day quarantine, followed by five days of masking for individuals who have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Individuals must be fever free for at least 24 hours prior to their return to school. Enhanced cleaning and sanitizing practices as well as enhanced ventilation adopted during the pandemic will continue to be followed.

The district remains committed to supporting students and staff members who wish to continue to mask while at school and district events and a supply of high-quality masks are available at each school.

Heading into the new school year, numerous job opportunities are available for employment with the school district. For more information about vacancies, call RSU14 Human Resources at 207-892-1800, ext. 2009 or visit rsu14.org <

RSU 14 explores adding in-person instruction days for students

RSU 14 students, teachers, and staff will find out this week
if students in the district will return to in-person instruction
four or five days per week. Under the current hybrid plan, 
they are only attending in-person two days a week because
of the pandemic. The RSU 14 Board of Directors is expected
to make an announcement about it this week.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE   

By Ed Pierce

Students in RSU 14 could soon be back in the classroom two or three additional days a week if school administrators and school board members approve a plan to return in-person instruction four days a week.

Last August, RSU 14 Schools Superintendent Christopher Howell recommended that the school district adopt a hybrid model for the start of the school year for students in Windham and Raymond. Since last September, RSU 14 students have been grouped alphabetically with last names from A to K having in-person classes in school on Mondays and Wednesdays and those with last names from L to Z attending in-person classes in school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On days when students are not in school, they have been expected to be following up online with their teachers to the best extent possible.

He said that the foundation of the hybrid proposal was to ensure the safety, equity and accessibility for all Windham and Raymond students.

Along with students, the pandemic has been hard on families, teachers, school staff members and school custodians, who have been putting in long hours because of the associated additional cleaning requirements for schools as a result of COVID-19. School cafeteria workers have also been challenged to provide different scenarios for student lunches, ranging from eating in the classroom to finding larger spaces in the schools for lunchrooms to accommodate social distancing mandates.

Using the hybrid schools plan, Howell said many CDC social distancing mandates were met by reducing the number of students in RSU 14 schools daily.

If the district increases in-person instructional days, Howell said that RSU 14 also is planning to continue to offer students a remote-only learning option if families do not feel comfortable with the proposed in-person plan for the remainder of the school year.

Information posted on the RSU 14 website earlier this week said that parents would need to have children attend school following whatever schedule model is directed by the board.

 

The information says remote options are possible, however, it is important to understand that any additional remote requests will be set up with online software and not added to the current remote teams. Students currently using remote learning are free to return to classroom instruction, but do not have to make the transition if their families wish to keep using the remote option through the end of the school year.  

 

“We will work to ensure that all students’ needs are met,” the info reads. “The district will provide transportation for families who are unable to transport.”

A survey was sent out to all students, families, and staff on April 1 to gather information to help the RSU 14 board reach a consensus about how to proceed.

 

The website information also details that if additional in-person instructional days are approved for RSU 14 schools, building administrators will work with staff to ensure appropriate social distancing guidelines are met and that spaces are conducive to engaged learning. And it further explains that building administrators will work to ensure adequate staff coverage for all classrooms. 

 

Whether the proposal adopted by the board is for four days of in-person instruction or for five days, the web statement says teachers would have their duty-free lunch and prep time in any of the proposed options.

 

“We understand that this has been an extraordinarily challenging year for all: staff, students, administrators, and community members. These are difficult decisions. It is important that we maintain a focus on student needs and then respond to challenges that staff are facing as we collaboratively problem solve the myriad of issues that this year has presented,” the statement reads. “Building administrators will work with teachers on a plan to support the transition. Any hourly staff who are asked to work additional hours will be compensated accordingly.”  

 

It says that the proposed increase to in-person instruction at this time is in response to expressed community needs for children to return to schools for as much in-person instruction as possible while maintaining adherence to social distancing and health/safety guidelines, as well as academic, social, and emotional needs of students.

 

“As more educators are vaccinated, school districts are examining possible schedule shifts to meet the needs of students and the community,” the web statement reads. “The RSU 14 Board of Directors has been kept abreast of building-level needs and challenges in response to COVID social distancing guidelines throughout the 2020-2021 school year. The RSU 14 Administrative Team would provide necessary updates to the full Board of Directors in response to any of the proposed options. Classroom spacing, furniture needs, social distancing protocols, instructional shifts, social emotional and academic planning, etc. are all being carefully examined and would be presented to the board for their input and consideration, as well. Every decision made by the RSU 14 Board of Directors is made following a thorough review of multiple perspectives. The board appreciates the feedback they’ve received regarding the proposed options to increasing in-person instruction and is reviewing survey data, emails, and other communication/feedback very carefully in order to make a decision.”

 

The RSU 14 Board of Directors was scheduled to make a final determination about additional in-person instruction days during a meeting on Wednesday evening. 

This article will be updated when information becomes available. < 

Schools' nutrition department prepares for unconventional year

Jeanne Reilly, left, the Director of School
Nutrition for RSU 14, and David Boger,
Windham Middle School kitchen manager,
gathered in June to give out food to families
as part of the district's backpack program
distribution. With RSU 14 students back in
school Wednesday, Reilly said serving
safe and delicious meals is one of the
district's top priorities this fall.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE

By Elizabeth Richards

When school reopens for area students on Sept. 9, the RSU 14 school nutrition department will be feeding students in a whole new way. As they adapt to the changes, meals will look different than in the past.

Under the hybrid learning model, only 50 percent of students will be on campus to receive school meals, said Jeanne Reilly, RSU 14 Director of School Nutrition. “This will, without a doubt, affect participation, which will also significantly impact our budget.”

The district will be offering meals to families on days when children are learning at home, whether they are participating in the hybrid model or have chosen full remote learning, Reilly said.

Families can order breakfast and lunch by 9 p.m. the night before and will pick up at various locations throughout Windham and Raymond.

Orders can be placed using the Nutrislice App, or online at https://rsu14.nutrislice.com/.

Elementary students will be served meals in the classroom, while the middle schools and high school will use the cafeteria following social distancing protocols.

Reilly said that in order to allow the team to adjust to the new service method, the start-up menu consists of almost 100 percent cold food such as sandwiches, yogurt parfaits and other things that are easy for students to eat in the classroom, while also easy for the nutrition program to maintain proper temperature and food safety protocols.

“After the first several weeks of school, we will gradually start to add in hot foods that can be transported safely and easily,” Reilly said.

Choices at the middle and high schools will also be more limited, with no salad bar and self-service limited to packaged foods.

The biggest challenge right now, Reilly said, is providing meals that are appealing and delicious for students while also easy to deliver both in school and via their Mobile Meals van.

“Our goal is to continue to provide high quality meals safely and efficiently to all students and to maintain our reputation as a program that delivers nutritious, delicious, kid approved, convenient and affordable meals in the same way we always have, even though things might look a little different then they have in the past,” she said.

The theme for this year is flexibility, Reilly said.

“We are preparing our team to be flexible and able to adapt to the changing situations,” she said. “Our team are experts at food safety and efficiency. Serving safe and delicious meals to the students in RSU14 is our priority.”

With so many things to manage while setting up breakfast, lunch and mobile meals, the RSU 14 backpack program won’t begin right away.

“We certainly plan to continue to provide food on the weekends via our backpack program,” Reilly said. “We just need to get everything else organized first.”

The district also is exploring different scenarios for student lunches to maintain social distancing guidelines at lunchtime, ranging from eating in the classroom to finding larger spaces in the schools for lunchrooms to accommodate social distancing mandates. For some schools, RSU 14 has purchased additional picnic tables for students to eat lunch outdoors.

About 3,200 students attend RSU 14 schools in Windham and Raymond. <

Windham, Raymond students and teachers return to classes Wednesday

RSU 14 school buses have been cleaned and
prepared in advance of students returning
to in-person instruction under a hybrid model
at the district's six schools starting on
Wednesday. RSU 14 has about 3,200 students
 and 750 teachers and staff members.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE
suAdd caption

By Ed Pierce

On Wednesday thousands of students in Windham and Raymond will return to classes under a hybrid schedule while adhering to guidelines put forward last month by the Maine Department of Education and Maine Center for Disease Control in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The framework for students returning to in-person instruction mandated meeting six requirements including symptom screening at home before the school day; physical distancing at school; wearing masks and face coverings; hand hygiene and sanitizing; use of personal protective equipment by teachers and school staff members; and establishing a policy of home isolation for staff and students until they recover from a COVID-19 diagnosis.   

Last month RSU 14 Superintendent Christopher Howell recommended that the school district adopt a hybrid model for the start of the school year. To operate under a hybrid model, Windham and Raymond students would be grouped alphabetically with last names from A to K having in-person classes in school on Mondays and Wednesdays and those with last names from L to Z attending in-person classes in school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When RSU 14 students are not in school, they will be following up online with their teachers to the best extent possible.

“I am proud of the work that has been completed by RSU 14 staff and administrators over the past couple of months,” Howell said. “In a short period of time, they have worked diligently to redefine school programs that meet the safety guidelines that have been established by the Maine CDC and the Maine Department of Education.”

To help area families screen for possible COVID-19 symptoms, RSU 14 has made available a pre-screening tool identifying questions to be asked of children each morning. 

It’s been a summer like no other for RSU 14 administrators and Howell, who have been examining how to best transition students back to in-person instruction after spending much of the spring months receiving instruction from teachers online using Zoom after the pandemic struck.

“Our challenges mean every student and every staff member has to wear a mask,” Howell said. “We’ve also had to undertake the challenge of managing and ensuring that the district has a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment ready and available. Like everyone else this summer, we’ve been thinking about what school will be like this fall and will students be safe.”

RSU 14 has 3,200 students and 750 staff members at six schools, including Windham High School. Windham Middle School, Jordan-Small Middle School, Windham Primary School, Manchester School and Raymond Elementary School.

As of Sept. 1, Maine had the second-lowest total of COVID-19 cumulative cases in the nation at 340 per 100,000 people and 4,548 since the pandemic began. In the final week of August, Maine also showed the 16^th smallest increase overall among U.S. states for the seven-day period of Aug. 24 to Aug. 31 at 3.9 percent.

To come up with a plan to safely get students back into the classroom, RSU 14 administrators had to work around a number of limitations that restricted the number of students allowed on school buses to 26 and no more than 50 students allowed in a group together at one time. They also had to comply with social distancing requirements for desks in classrooms, create new medical isolation rooms at each school, install new plexiglass protective barriers in schools, upgrade air filtration systems at each school, and ensure frequent cleaning of physical surfaces throughout the schools.

“We recognize kids can’t spend all day in the classroom,” Howell said. “We’ve also looked carefully at classroom space to keep students 3 to 6 feet apart and only 10 students in a classroom.”

For student and families choosing to opt out of in-person instruction because of COVID-19 concerns, the district will provide distance learning and laptops for students. Technology sessions are available for parents and students to help them navigate the distance learning process.

“RSU 14 continues to work to provide a mix of hybrid, distance, and multi day programs for our students.  The staffing of all of the positions that are required for a mix of programs is monumental,” Howell said. “Through some creative problem solving and flexibility, we will be able to offer a variety of school attendance options for families in our district.” <  

Childcare centers adapt to support remote learning days for students

The preschool area at A Joyful Noise
Christian Day Care and Learning Center
in Windham is ready for more students
this fall. Because of RSU 14's decision to
start school next month on a hybrid model
because of COVID-19, local daycare and
childcare centers are trying to adapt
to increasing numbers of students being
enrolled this fall. COURTESY PHOTO

By Elizabeth Richards

Childcare directors have been as eager as families to hear what the plan for school in RSU 14 will look like this fall. Now that a hybrid model has been announced, centers are scrambling to create plans that will best support working families and their school-aged children.

With traditional before- and after-school care programs, space is often shared with other programs while children are at school.  With the hybrid plan in place, local centers will have two different groups of children attending full days on their remote learning days, all children on the third remote day, and children joining them for before and/or after school hours as well.

This means those childcare spaces will be used all day, and the overall number of school-aged children each center can accommodate will typically not increase.

Local childcare directors said the hybrid model has changed their programs in a variety of ways. 

Diane LaPierre, the owner of Creative Kids in Raymond, said the hybrid model will mean groups are not consistent, and staff will both be tutoring and caring for children. 

Brianna Hillock, director at All About Kids in Windham, said their program will be changed drastically.

“We were just before and after care before, with an occasional snow day, early release day, and summer camp/school vacations, but now we must accommodate for 10 or more combinations as far as full day care for three days, and then a mix of before and after care on those other two days,” she said.

Connie DiBiase, director of Birchwood Day Nursery School, said that their morning preschool classes had to be moved to the main building since the school age children will be in the other building all day.

Jennifer White, the owner of A Joyful Noise Christian Day Care and Learning Center said that with two different groups of children, they are waiting to see where their numbers end up. 

She said that the RSU 14 superintendent Christopher Howell is trying to work with childcare centers in the district to try and even the numbers out, so one group isn’t very large while the other two days have very low numbers.

According to White, they plan to accommodate the same number of children as they had last year, which will work if it’s balanced.

“It will be a little bit tricky, but we’ve had all summer to be thinking about this and be preparing for it. Even though there’s a lot of unknowns, we’ve had some time to really give this some thought,” White said.

Hillock said it was difficult to get notice of the final plans three weeks before the start of school.

“As a director/childcare provider who is a planner, it’s extremely frustrating to me because I felt like I was behind on the plan, and when I had parents approaching me asking about our pricing, plan, etc, I couldn’t give them a straight answer. We felt this was too much of a time crunch to make accurate plans,” she said.

She feels that there has been little guidance from the superintendent, school district, or anyone else for childcare providers. It was frustrating, she said, to receive a call from the bus garage on Aug. 18 letting her know she only had until Friday, Aug. 21 to notify them who would be attending before- and after-care. 

“How is that remotely possible when we don’t know what parents are committing to what, and some of the parents still have no idea what they’re doing?” she asked.

While hours and number of children remain the same for most centers, additional staff is required to hold full day programs for school-aged children.

DiBiase said they have hired two fulltime staff to be with children on remote learning days. At Creative Kids, the summer school-age teacher will now work fulltime throughout the year. Hillock has also hired more staff for their school-aged building.

 “There will be many times when we have to have extra staffing in there for certain parts of the day which is above state ratios for childcare centers,” White said. 

In addition to their usual activities, teachers in school-aged programs will be helping students with their remote learning when possible.

“We will help with their packet of learning and we are thinking we will split that into 30-minute work times and do other activities in between,” DiBiase said. “We are also hoping to create individual workstations so children can do some work outside, especially independent reading.”

LaPierre said she hasn’t developed a concrete plan for helping students with remote learning yet both because things keep changing, and because needs will depend on the individual child. 

A Joyful Noise stayed open throughout the pandemic and developed a model to use for helping with distance learning back in March when schools closed. White said they are continuing with that model and adding to it, since it’s unknown how long remote learning will last. 

“It could be a month, it could be the school year, we have no idea,” she said.

For in-home childcare providers, who have less children and less staff, supporting remote learning can be especially challenging.

Tamara Gallagher, owner of The Growing Tree Childcare and Preschool in Westbrook near the Windham town line said she has two children currently enrolled who will be staying with her part time during remote learning, along with her own three children. 

“We have set blocks of time we are working on to help them,” she said. “What makes it really tough is that it requires extra time and staff, which puts a strain on finances. I have to hire extra help for the school age, so I’m spending a lot more money and not making any more.”

With the very different look of school aged childcare this year, one thing that is essential is for families to be upfront about possible exposure to COVID-19. 

“We want to keep everybody safe, and we can only do that if parents will partner with us in doing that,” White said. <

RSU14 faces challenges in addressing student summer food insecurity

Jeanne Reilly, left, the Director of School Nutrition for RSU14
and David Boger, Windham Middle School kitchen manager,
prepare to give out food to families as part of the district's
last distribution of the school year for its backpack program
at Windham Middle School on June 9.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE

By Elizabeth Richards

RSU14 is in a tight spot when it comes to providing summer meals for students who are experiencing food insecurity. 

None of the school sites are eligible to provide free meals for all students, since they do not meet the benchmark of over 50 percent of students qualifying for free or reduced meals.

Since schools closed in March for on-site instruction, the district has been operating as an emergency food pantry through their backpack program said Jeanne Reilly, Director of School Nutrition for RSU14.  Initially, there was a lot of food they needed to be put to use, since school had closed so abruptly because of the COVID-19 crisis. 

“At first, they were fruits and vegetables that we had to either send home or throw away,” Reilly said.

As time went on, she said, funds from the backpack program were used to continue sending families home with a supply of groceries that included produce, milk, cheese and yogurt, as well as some of the traditional shelf stable foods typically provided by the backpack program.

Summer meals, however, pose a considerable challenge, she said.  Dundee Park, which has been a traditional summer meal site in years past, was not a viable option this year, said Reilly.

The district looked for other places, but no locations in Windham or Raymond qualified. 

“Right now, we just don’t have an area where we could feed all families for free,” Reilly said.

Although they can’t provide free meals through a designated site this year, the district is still committed to helping find solutions to food insecurity for students.

An end-of-school year update for families lists open meal sites in other school districts, including Westbrook, MSAD15, and the Lakes Region Schools.

According to Reilly, at an open meal site, children from anywhere can go to get a meal. 

She said that this summer the open meal sites will provide both a lunch and a breakfast to go for families, but the process is a bit different because of COVID-19 protocols and restrictions.

“It used to be that students had to be present and meals had to be consumed on site,” Reilly said. “This year, the parents have to be there to pick up and the meals cannot be consumed on site.”

As additional resources, Reilly said that food pantries in both Windham and Raymond will operate over the summer for families as well.

Windham residents can call the RSU14 food pantry for an appointment at 892-1931 and get food once per week, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Raymond will offer a Summer Backpack Food Program at Jordan Small Middle School on Tuesdays from 1:30 to 3 p.m. where families can pick up a supply of shelf stable food, and possibly some produce.

The program also is working with St. Joseph’s College to potentially get produce from their gardens, Reilly said.

Families should also be made aware of the Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefit, Reilly said, which provides additional grocery funds to families who qualify for free and reduced meal prices.

If they previously may have qualified or think they may qualify now as a result of a job loss or an employee furlough, families should fill out the free/reduced meal application, she said.

This application can be filled out and submitted online, or families can contact Reilly by sending an email to jreilly@rsu14.org for assistance. 

Although the P-EBT benefit is scheduled to expire at the end of June, there is legislation currently in front of the Maine Senate that could extend this through the summer when schools are closed, Reilly said.

Districts like RSU14 are in an awkward position, with not enough families eligible for free and reduced meals to qualify for programs that can help those in need, Reilly said.

But with some families in the area still in need of help, the school district has been searching for ways to be of assistance. 

“We’re left struggling with how to provide for those families in the best way possible,” she said.

Food insecurity has often been cited as one of the most important public health problems currently facing children in the United States. Numerous studies and previous surveys conducted from 2013-to 2019 reveal that food insecurity has negative impacts on the health of children.

In data collected in 2016 by the National Health Interview Study, there is a direct correlation between household food insecurity and significantly worse general health in children, including some acute and chronic health problems, and heightened emergency room hospital visits.

The study found that compared to rates in homes that are not food insecure, children in food-insecure households had rates of lifetime asthma diagnosis and depressive symptoms that were 19.1 percent and 27.9 percent higher, with rates of foregone medical care that were 179.8 percent higher, and rates of emergency department use that were 25.9 percent higher.

The organization No Kid Hungry estimates that because of the COVID-19 crisis and pandemic this year, as many as one in four children in the United States could face food insecurity issues.

In April, a national survey of mothers with young children commissioned by The Hamilton Project reported that the pandemic was responsible for significant food insecurity in America.

Survey results showed that 17.4 percent of mothers with children ages 12 and under reported that since the pandemic started, “the children in my household were not eating enough because we just couldn’t afford enough food.”

Of those mothers, 3.4 percent reported that it was often the case that their children were not eating enough due to a lack of resources since the coronavirus pandemic began.

That same survey revealed that food insecurity in households in America with children under the age of 18 has increased about 130 percent from 2018 to 2020. <