As community spread increases across our state and country and we have taken in your feedback, a decision has been made to update the greater Scarborough Public Schools community about positive cases that have transpired in the last 14 days on a weekly basis, similar to the communication you received on Tuesday. This will take the place of sometimes daily notifications that have gone out to everyone anytime there is a case at an individual site. In all of the cases being reported to you here today, no school close contacts were identified, whereas schools were closed from 12.22.2020 to 1.5.2021.

Positive Cases for Persons Connected to SPS in the Last 14 days (since 12.26.2020)

Scarborough High School - 6 cases

Scarborough Middle School - 2 cases

Wentworth School - 1 case

Pleasant Hill - 0 cases

Eight Corners - 1 case

Blue Point - 1 case

District level - 1 case

We will continue to notify staff and families of positive cases as they occur in individual buildings or sites, via communication from building principals. All school level communications in regards to COVID will be uploaded on our district communications webpage as they occur for those of you who want to be informed more than once a week.

Cumberland County is no longer in the green category (relatively low risk of COVID-19 spread), but are now in the yellow category which suggests that our county has an elevated risk of COVID-19. This also means that all "in-person" athletics and student activities (afterschool programs) are currently postponed. Club Advisors and Coaches are working to stay connected to students remotely. As a reminder, color category data are publicly posted on the Maine CDC website. The next assessment for color coding will take place on January 15.

We appreciate everyone's efforts to be diligent in reinforcing a culture of compliance among our students and families. Taking the necessary precautions to protect the health and safety of our school community is our top priority. Please continue to reach out to your school nurse if your student tests positive and share any information about contact that may have been had with anyone affiliated with Scarborough Public Schools, even if that contact occurred outside of school.

Dear Friends,

It has been wonderful to have everyone back from the holidays and my hope is that each of you had an opportunity to find joy during this special time of year. Whether it is spending time with your friends or family, it is a time of year where we can pause and reflect on all the wonderful things we are grateful for.

As we are approaching our halfway point with this school year, I think collectively we have learned and gained some experiences with COVID-19 that should position us well as we enter the second half of the school year. I am most delighted that next week our school nurses, occupational therapists and physical therapists have been selected to have the vaccination. There is light at the end of the tunnel knowing the vaccination will be soon upon us and eventually we anticipate more vaccinations will be available to all of our employees. That being said, Cumberland County remains a “yellow” county meaning our county has an elevated risk of COVID-19. The next color code update is scheduled for Friday, January 15th.

As a school system we work hard to further our learning knowing that professional development time for our employees is an important way to stay current with teaching and learning. Recently, our ongoing efforts to be involved with Maine’s Cultural Competence Institute has been a remarkable success. With 42 representatives from our school system, along with 422 educators across the state, we are grateful to have the opportunity to further our knowledge with developing a deep understanding of creating a culture of inclusion, how to continue developing a sustainable practice for diversity and equity and inclusion in each of our schools. This 8 month series of 90 minutes of professional development modules has been well received and is providing practical skills as we continue to plan for racial equity and justice work.

Lastly, I am sure each of us are continuing to process the recent acts of domestic terrorism on the United States Capitol in Washington DC. I know how disturbing and unquestionably difficult it is for each of us to watch. My heartfelt appreciation goes to all knowing that our youth and others understand there are better ways to deal with conflict, and peaceful transitions of power needs to continue.

Stay well and thank you again for all that you do for your amazing children. We are forever indebted for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Sanford Prince

Dear Scarborough Community,

The Board of Education continues to seek applicants for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and is extending the application deadline to Wednesday, January 20th to ensure anyone interested has an opportunity to participate in this important work. Here is the link to the original request with the details and application. Our goal is to form a committee that will advocate for our diverse district, including but not limited to, socioeconomic status, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin and disability status. Prior experience and/or expertise is not a requirement for participation. Please consider applying for this committee and helping our district identify strengths and areas for improvement.

Please email the School Board with any questions at boe@scarboroughschools.org.

Share the news! Please let any community members, who do not currently have students enrolled in a Scarborough School, know that they too can stay in touch with the latest happenings in the schools and the district. By simply going to the SPS website and selecting the "District Communications" tab on the left, they can enter their name and email address and we will send along our weekly news to them. If you have a student(s) in the district and you are already receiving our newsletter - no need to sign up (if you do, you will receive duplicate newsletters from us).

For technology assistance with SPS student laptops, please send a message to techsupport@scarboroughschools.org and someone from Technology will be in touch to assist you.