Harpswell Community School and Mt. Ararat High School will remain open despite active COVID-19 outbreaks.
Maine School Administrative District 75 has outbreaks at five schools as of Wednesday, Nov. 17. The others are Williams-Cone School and Woodside Elementary School, both in Topsham; and Bowdoinham Community School, according to a Nov. 18 letter from interim Superintendent Bob Lucy to families and staff.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has assigned an outbreak investigator to MSAD 75 to review data and make recommendations “to prevent further spread of COVID-19,” Lucy said in the letter.
An outbreak is three or more confirmed cases in the same school within a 14-day period.
“At this time, most of the cases in our schools are resulting from an exposure outside school, or from community spread,” Lucy said. “Therefore, it is not recommended we close any of our schools.”
The district continues to employ measures to prevent transmission, including universal masking and voluntary vaccination clinics.
Maine had outbreaks in 163 schools as of Nov. 12, according to the letter.The outbreak investigator assigned to MSAD 75 has cautioned that more schools will see outbreaks as winter nears. “It is likely that schools will shift in and out of outbreak status in the coming months,” Lucy said.
The full letter can be read below.
