FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — Fort Fairfield schools announced Monday they will move to remote learning effective Tuesday due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases that occurred over the weekend.
“Due to the inability to provide adequate substitutes for the absences of essential employees and the number of confirmed positive COVID cases within the MSAD No. 20 district’s schools from the past weekend, all Fort Fairfield schools will be in a remote learning model for Tuesday, November 16, 2021 through Friday, November19, 2021,” Superintendent Tim Doak Doak wrote in a letter to parents.
As of 3:30 p.m. on Monday, the Fort Fairfield school district had seven active COVID-19 cases in the elementary school, and 16 in the middle/high school. There are 21 people in quarantine as close contacts in the elementary school, and 41 in the middle/high school.
Doak stressed that this move is for the safety of the health of students and faculty alike, writing, “Our team of professionals will work throughout the school year to promote healthy schools. Safety is our number one priority today and every day.”
Elementary students were sent home Monday with work packets, and laptops will be available for pickup on Wednesday morning.
Due to teacher workshops for parent-teacher conferences and Thanksgiving break, the schools plan to return to in-person learning on Nov. 29, which means there is a little loss of scheduled in-person time.
Fort Fairfield Recreation will also be taking a hiatus from in-person youth activities for the rest of the week, after making an announcement on its Facebook page, with a copy of the letter from the school.
More information about the Fort Fairfield school district and procedures can be found on its website.
