Biddeford Schools
April 22, 2020
Dear Senior Parents/Guardians,
Thank you for reaching out to me with concerns about events this spring. I understand this is a difficult time for all students in our district. We miss them, and they miss their friends and teachers. One of the cruel consequences of the nation’s current health crisis is that people everywhere are being forced to miss rites of passage ranging from prom to weddings, graduations to funerals. It is a time of great uncertainty, disappointment, and angst.
Closer to home, we are looking at alternatives for all manner of celebrations, graduation, and awards ceremonies. As recently as last Tuesday our Board was briefed on initial plans for year-end recognitions. Area Principals and Superintendents are in almost-daily contact exchanging ideas about the best way to safely honor the schools’ most cherished traditions. As you know, schools across the state are faced with never-before-made decisions about how to educate our students based on a health situation in which information changes daily, if not hourly.
We need to make decisions that keep not only our students but our community safe at all times. Our number one goal has been to make sure that students do not become ill or that our community does not become a hot spot for COVID-19 in Southern Maine. The Biddeford School Department (BSD) was one of the first to take aggressive, prophylactic actions in the interest of student safety as early as February. To date, our school community has held up well and been relatively healthy. Our families are fed and our educators have made valiant efforts to support students. My charge, first and foremost, is to stay abreast of health advisories and comply with guidance from the State Department of Education, Governor, and our colleagues in the City and County.
The school department has been in constant contact with state officials, our health care professionals at SMHC, and receive updates from the CDC. The following health information is given due consideration when making these decisions:
- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends an 8- to 20-week timeframe for avoiding large group/in-person instruction/gatherings once there is evidence of community transmission. There is community transmission still occurring in York County.
* 8 weeks - June 15
* 20 weeks - September 7 - The executive order from the Governor would need to be reduced to crowds of over 250, which was one of her first decision. Based on the fact that recommendations for a relaxed stay at home order occur only after 14 straight days of a decrease in new COVID-19 cases, this could take some time.
- Social distancing orders are likely to be in place far longer than stay at home orders. It is hard to imagine that a prom could occur with proper social distancing. Students would be taking pictures together in groups, and a prom wouldn't be a prom without dancing.
- If a prom were to occur before graduation, we would need to have it at least 14 days prior. Asymptomatic individuals can transmit COVID-19, and if the events were only days apart, we could be exposing 1,000's of members of our community. If a student contracted COVID-19, we would then have to alter graduation plans, and my top priority for our seniors is to hold an in-person graduation. However, our actions as a greater community and student body around social distancing may dictate our ability to hold graduation. If a prom were to occur after graduation, there are significant issues the school would face in complying and enforcing school policy as they are no longer our students.
- I would be concerned about putting 500 students together in a situation where they could contract the virus. The students would be returning home and could infect parents, grandparents, or other children in the family.
- I communicated with the school department’s retained physician again this week, and she did not think it was possible to hold an in-person prom even this summer and would advise against it. SMHC’s President Nathan Howell concurred noting, “SMHC has seen the second-largest number of COVID-19 patients in Maine next to Maine Medical Center and while we currently have adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to ensure the safety of our patients and care teams we also need to be cautious. Social distancing appears to be working and, as a result, our healthcare facilities are not currently overtaxed. We look to align with State and Federal CDCs for guidance on loosening restrictions, but at this time it does not yet appear to be prudent, nor in the best interests of our health providers, to do so.”
- The school department needs to plan events that are available to all students. We have several students who have compromised immune systems and health conditions, which would prohibit them from attending. Equal access to school events must include all students. This is a moral imperative, but it also is a key principle of civil rights and equal access laws.
Therefore, the above reasons are why we have made the decision to cancel the prom. The senior class trip and project sunrise will be just as challenging to hold with social distancing restrictions in place. Like scores of other high schools in our area, the BSD is planning to hold virtual ceremonies starting in early May for athletic awards. We will then make other decisions based on what we learn from our live streaming test events.
I know that students are dealing with many emotions because of all of the uncertainly of our times; and, during a time when we are grasping for hope, I do not want to create false hope that could be further hurtful. I am concerned that by delaying this decision, a future cancelation could be intertwined with news about an altered graduation ceremony or their fall plans.
I know that you are saddened for your child and all that they are missing this spring. However, I am apprehensive to make a decision based on emotion and not science which could put your child, your family, and this community in a dangerous health situation. I would not be able to live with myself if my poor decision impacted the health of the student body and the community.
With regrets,
Jeremy Ray
Superintendent of Schools