Scarborough Public Schools
Weekly Newsletter - March 5, 2021
Message from the Superintendent
Dear Friends,
The month of March is a time in education where it is declared a time to observe and celebrate the arts of education in our schools. As a school community we highly value the arts in education knowing it supports developing the whole child. Whether it is in school or within our community it is a rich tradition of celebrating the arts and we are forever grateful to see the amazing works of art that come from our students.
As you are aware, the STTRT Committee (School Transition Reopen Redesign Taskforce) was established last summer consisting of a range of employees and community members who developed a plan with a recommendation as to how our students would return to school this past fall. The return to school plan was approved by the School Board on July 30, 2020 and it has been our fieldbook for how school has been in operation this school year. We have reached out to members of this team to join together on March 11th to review families and employees survey results, data from the Maine Department of Education as well as Maine CDC guidelines. The focus at this time is to consider possibilities for safely increasing in-person learning, given Maine DOE and Maine CDC requirements remain intact. We are encouraged to see that the State of Maine announced that all school employees will be vaccinated. In the meantime, as a school community COVID-19 continues to be a public health threat and we will continue with following all health and safety protocols.
Best regards,
Sandy Prince
Superintendent
Governor's Travel Update
Weekly SPS COVID-19 Update
2021-2022 Kindergarten Pre-Registration
We are eager to welcome our newest Kindergarten students to Scarborough Public Schools! We are currently planning for Fall 2021 and will be able to release more information about what school will look like later this spring. If you have a child who turns 5 on or before Oct. 15, 2021 and you are considering sending them to school in the fall, please complete this form. Formal registration packets will be available on our website at a later date.
The information you provide is important for us to accurately plan for the number of classrooms, teachers and materials we will need in the fall. Please complete the form so we can contact you through email with updates and news about the 2021-2022 school year as the situation evolves and decisions are made. We will hold registration appointments at each school later in the Spring.
2021-2022 Pre-Registration Form
FY22 School Budget Process
Creating and maintaining the school budget is a continuous cycle, constantly being refined throughout the year as administration reviews areas for cost containment and improvements for the next fiscal year. This year has been particularly difficult for district staff and administrators as they have been working through one time costs associated with the pandemic and managing revenue from multiple sources with varying restrictions for how it can be expended.
The public portion of the FY22 budget process is about to get underway as district leadership will present their budget in detailed workshops with the school board. This year there will be two virtual workshops held: Tuesday March 9th at 8:00 - 10:00 am and Wednesday March 10th at 4:30 - 6:30 pm. These meetings will provide insight into the district’s FY22 school year priorities and the district leadership’s decision making process for reaching their proposed first reading of the budget, which will be formally presented at the Thursday March 18th School Board meeting. Be on the lookout for Zoom links on the Scarborough Public Schools website to join these meetings as they are occurring or to watch at a later time, so you can be involved in the budget process from the beginning.
As highlighted in the February 15th edition of the town’s newsletter, the board has officially begun a search for a new superintendent. The board is in the process of reviewing community applications for the interview committee which are due on March 1st, as well as collating the data from the key criteria feedback survey, which is also due on March 1st. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the survey or apply for the interview committee. The board will be announcing the committee members at the Thursday, March 4th meeting.
The FY22 budget and superintendent search will be a large focus for board efforts in the coming months, which will be reflected in future communications.We are looking forward to hearing from the community as these projects progress. Please reach out with any questions or comments at boe@scarboroughschools.org.
Parent Resources
These resources provide ideas families can use to help support social and emotional learning.
From the Greater Good Science Center:
Blue Point School Displays Heart!
Upcoming SPS Events - Mark Your Calendar!
- March 9 - BOE/LC Budget Workshop #1
- March 10 - BOE/LC Budget Workshop #2
- March 12 - Staff/Student day for Cohort B Students (changed at the 7/30/20 BOE meeting)
- March 18 - School Board Workshop
Fully Remote Preparedness Plans
Health & Safety
Please make sure you review the UPDATED Student Health Self Assessment questions EVERY DAY before sending your child off to school.
TOGETHER, we can make our schools as safe as possible!
Links to Our Schools
Services & Information
Spec. Services | Alison Marchese, amarchese@scarboroughschools.org
Food Services | Peter Esposito, pesposito@scarboroughschools.org
Athletics & Activities | Mike LeGage, mlegage@scarboroughschools.org
Curriculum I Monique Culbertson, mculbertson@scarboroughschools.org
Community Services | Todd Souza, tsouza@scarboroughmaine.org
Tech Support
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.
Scarborough Schools
Website: www.scarboroughschools.org
Location: 259 U.S. Route 1, Scarborough, ME 04074, USA
Phone: (207) 730-4100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarbmeschools/
Twitter: @scarbmeschools