PPS’ reopening plan has been carefully developed in close collaboration between Maine’s Department of Education (MDOE) and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC). Additionally, specific details around health and safety protocols have been identified by PPS’ Head Nurse, and the district’s Medical Officer, Dr. Patricia Patterson, Assistant Director of Pediatrics at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital, and other experts within Maine’s medical community.
You will be expected to check your student every morning for symptoms of COVID -19 or other illness. Keep your child home if your child is sick. Call the school nurse if you are unsure if your student should come to school.
Keep your child home if your child has had close contact with someone who is positive for COVID 19.
Send your child (age 4 or older) to school with a mask or other face covering. Your child must wear a face covering on the school bus.
To learn how to wear and care for a face covering, click here.
Be available to pick up your child at school if your child becomes sick during the school day. If it will be difficult for you to pick up your child during the school day, have an “emergency plan” ready for another family member, friend or neighbor to pick up your child from school. Please contact your school to update your child’s profile with this contact information.
Take time to review these simple recommended safety measures with your student.
Send your child (age 4 or older) to school with a mask or other face covering. Your child must wear a face covering on the school bus.
Face coverings must have at least 2 layers of cloth. If you can stretch the material and see through it, it is not thick enough.
No “gaiters” or bandanas or other “non-mask” coverings will be allowed.
No masks with valves will be allowed.
A doctor’s note is required to wear a face shield instead of a face covering/mask.
Face coverings should cover nose and mouth snugly and be secure under the chin. It should fit firmly over the bridge of the nose and against the sides of the face. Make sure your child can breathe easily.
To learn how to wear and care for a face covering, click here.
People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:
Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue (extreme tiredness)
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea
This list does not include all possible symptoms. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will continue to update this list as we learn more about COVID-19.
The CDC has highlighted specific mitigation strategies to reduce risk of COVID-19 infection and transmission. PPS will adhere to the following enhanced protocols and precautions:
Face Covering & Social Distancing
A face covering includes: non-medical-grade disposable face masks, cloth face coverings (over the nose and mouth), or full-face shields to protect the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Students are encouraged to bring their own masks, but PPS will provide face coverings for all students, as needed.
PPS will provide face coverings for all staff members.
At this time, for whom it is developmentally appropriate, all staff, students, and visitors must wear a face covering in all PPS facilities and on school buses.
Please ensure your child's mask is labeled and be sure to discuss the importance of not sharing masks with others.
At school, students and staff will be encouraged to practice physical distancing, keeping a minimum of 6 feet of distance from others whenever possible.
Some classrooms may have had furniture removed or rearranged to accommodate for physical distancing.
Plexiglass barriers have been installed for staff members who interact with the public on a more frequent basis such as school offices, cafeteria spaces and counseling/school psychologist offices. The barriers are also being installed in classrooms as needed.
Schools are opening in hybrid mode to reduce the number of students present at the start of the school year.
School days have been shortened to reduce prolonged exposure.
Staff meetings and conferences are being moved online to reduce prolonged exposure.
Sanitation & Prevention
Students and visitors are asked to sanitize hands when entering the building, entering and/or exiting a classroom space.
Special attention is being placed to disinfect high-touch points including doorknobs, countertops, handrails, light switches, restroom fixtures, desks, phones, etc.
Restrooms, communal spaces, front desk and lobby areas will be cleaned with increased frequency.
Some spaces not commonly used for classrooms may be utilized to allow for 6 feet of separation including cafeterias, gym spaces, and other classrooms.
Outdoor spaces will be utilized as frequently as possible within the instructional day.
Isolation means keeping sick people away from healthy ones. It usually means a sick person stays in their bedroom, away from everyone, including family members.
Health isolation spaces have been created in each building should a student or staff member begin to experience or display potential COVID-19 symptoms during the course of the school or work day. Be available to pick up your child at school if your child becomes sick during the school day. If it will be difficult for you to pick up your child during the school day, have an “emergency plan” ready for another family member, friend or neighbor to pick up your child from school. Please contact your school to update your child’s profile with this emergency contact information.
Quarantine means separating people who were exposed to a sick person away from others. Someone who has been exposed can spread the virus before they have symptoms.
If an individual student is required to quarantine, they will be provided the option to transition into remote learning, if physically able, and those days will not be counted as absences.
If a classroom or multiple classrooms are required to quarantine due to a positive test, impacted students will transition into remote learning during the quarantine period. If a student is physically able to participate in remote learning, those days will not be counted as absences.
Outdoor spaces will be utilized as frequently as possible within the instructional day.
We will contact public health officials to report the situation. We will work with those officials to determine the extent of possible contacts and communicate with them as appropriate.
Areas accessed by the presumed case will be closed and cleaned. This process will take these areas off line for a minimum of 48 hours.
We will communicate promptly to staff, students, and families in the event that local health conditions warrant any form of school closure or a change in instructional delivery.
In the event of closure, PPS will implement an emergency model of full-time online instruction for affected students.
If notified of a positive case (test positive or presumed positive by provider), the school nurse and administrator will begin contact tracing/movement in the school building, grounds and transportation. The school nurse will work closely with the CDC.
Areas an individual was in will be closed for cleaning for at least 48 hours.
Close contacts (within 6 ft for at least 15 minutes) will be notified by Maine CDC and instructed to stay home and quarantine.
The scope of the closure and quarantine will depend on recommendations from the CDC.
Nurse will track quarantines and positive students (who will need to be home in isolation). Only the CDC releases people from isolation.
The school community will be notified of a positive case while maintaining privacy of the affected person, through letter (email).
Students experiencing symptoms will be guided to dedicated isolation areas. Emergency contacts will be notified and will be expected to pick up their student as soon as possible. Students will not be allowed to return to school until they have been cleared by a physician and/or school nurse.
Anyone who has been a close contact of someone positive for COVID-19 will be contacted by the Maine CDC. If there is a case at school, the school will be notified by the CDC. We will notify contacts in school as we are directed by the CDC. Information about a person’s identity is confidential and cannot be shared.
If your student has COVID 19 or has symptoms, they need to stay home and away from others until ALL 3 of the following have happened:
They have NOT had a fever without taking fever reducing medicine (like Tylenol or Advil) for 72 hours
Their coughing, sneezing, and/or breathing difficulty has improved
At least 10 days have passed from when symptoms started
They should stay home for 10 days after the day they were tested and stay away from others. Even though they feel well, they can still spread the virus during this time.
If your child is sick with COVID-19 symptoms, please call your healthcare provider. If your healthcare provider does not believe your child has COVID-19, your child should stay home from school until they are feeling better and at least 24 hours have passed without a fever without taking fever reducing medicine.
The Portland Public Schools, working with Greater Portland Health, can provide access to COVID-19 testing for families who may not otherwise have access. Our school nurses will provide information about this if appropriate.
Your child should stay home from school until they are feeling better and at least 24 hours have passed without a fever without taking fever reducing medicine and/or 24 hours have passed without vomiting or diarrhea.
A close contact is someone you spent more than 15 minutes with and are within 6 feet. That heightens the risk for catching COVID 19.
A casual contact is someone you are near briefly, for example someone you pass in the grocery store.
You will be notified by a CDC contact tracer or school official if your child is considered a close contact of someone who is positive for COVID 19.
Close contacts should quarantine for 14 days from the last day they had contact with positive case and monitor for symptoms.
Symptoms can occur 2-14 days from exposure.
If symptoms develop, contact your healthcare provider and follow their instructions.
Drinking fountains are limited to bottle filling use only. We encourage your child to bring a labeled water bottle to fill throughout the day. Please talk to your child about the importance of not sharing or using another student’s water bottle. One time cups will be available for students who do not bring their own water bottle.
Restrooms will be monitored and cleaned more frequently throughout the day. Outside cleaning services will be contracted, as needed.
Health isolation rooms have been created in the building should a student or staff member begin to experience or display COVID-19 symptoms during the course of the school or work day.
As permitted in Governor Mills executive order 7, the Portland Public Schools will be using powered electrostatic sprayers to more effectively and efficiently disinfect our schools. The cleaning product being dispensed, Vital Oxide, is on the EPA approved COVID-19 list and has an HMIS (Hazardous Materials Identification System) rating of zero.