Dear Madawaska School Department Family Members,

We wanted to update you on our efforts to combat COVID-19 as we welcome students back to school. Our school community is diligently adhering to our strict safety protocols and behaviors. Over the course of the coming year, we will be updating you regularly on our COVID-19 efforts as part of Valley Unified Education Service Center’s commitment to transparency.

Toward that end, we wanted you to know that we have identified one individual who has tested positive this week for COVID-19. This individual is currently in isolation at home and will only return to work once clearance is obtained according to ​CDC guidance​ and confirmed by the primary care physician. As planned, we immediately activated our tracing program and began reaching out to the people in our school community who may have been in contact with this individual. Luckily, because of how early in the school year this was detected, the identified individual had yet to come on school grounds or appear for work.

Our protocols call for anyone who tests positive to notify the School Department right away. Contact tracing for students and staff commences as soon as the School Department is informed of a positive test result. If contact tracing determines that your child has come in close contact with an individual who has tested positive, you would be notified immediately.

As the pandemic continues, there is an expectation that there will be positive cases within our community. COVID-19 is everywhere, and many people across the state and country who are testing positive are asymptomatic. We wanted to assure you that we are taking all necessary steps to prevent additional cases or a spread. After preparation all summer, in consultation with our health and wellness advisors and experts, we are pleased that our requests to have staff and students perform symptom screenings before coming to school, and staying home when symptoms appear, have worked in identifying this case.

We appreciate the cooperation and work that everyone here at the Madawaska School Department is doing to help combat COVID-19, including your child(ren). You can help us as part of this process. Let your child(ren) know that you support our masking, hand washing, physical distancing and symptom screening each morning before leaving the house. Please encourage them to avoid gatherings with large numbers of people in close proximity to each other. Let’s work together to keep our students and staff healthy. The health and well-being of our school community remains our first priority.

Thank you for your cooperation and support! 

Sincerely,

Benjamin Sirois
Superintendent of Schools