WATERVILLE — The Waterville Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to adopt an updated school health plan in light of new guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Superintendent Peter Hallon said the CDC has shifted the language of the guidelines from wording specific to COVID-19 to language that applies to respiratory viruses in general.
The updated plan encourages people to take personal responsibility by not coming to school when they are sick.
As part of the updated guidelines, Hallon said, school staff members and students do not have to participate in pre-required mitigation and testing strategies.
The board voted 7-0 to approve the 2023-24 health plan, which says Waterville Public Schools is committed to providing a safe, healthy environment for staff members, students and families. Updates to the plan, it said, were developed with help from the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Education. The plan provides a minimum standard of expectations and procedures.
“With mitigation strategies such as masking and social distancing no longer necessary, we depend heavily on the cooperation of our staff, students and families to minimize the spread of respiratory viruses and other illnesses in our school communities,” it reads the plan.
People are asked to stay home when they have signs of an infectious disease, according to the plan. If an individual has had a fever of at least 100 degrees, that individual must be fever-free without using fever-reducing medications for at least 24 hours before returning to school.
While testing for COVID-19 is no longer required, the plan recommends that those with persistent or severe symptoms be referred to a health care provider for diagnosis and treatment.
In other business Monday, the Board of Education heard budget proposals for Waterville High School, Albert S. Hall School and other departments.
The proposed budget for the junior high school is $3.58 million, an increase of $83,787. About $3.15 million of the budget, or 88%, is for salaries and benefits; $244,316, or 7%, is for maintenance; and $192,379, or 5%, is for general school expenses.
Principal Don Roux said junior high enrollment has declined over the past 15 years from 411 to 332.
Hallon explained that while 56 percent of students at the junior high school and 66 percent at Albert S. Hall School qualify for free or reduced lunch, officials know the need is greater in the district.
Maine already offers free lunches to students as part of a federal program, Hallen said, and the only downside to that is that the motivation for families to fill out paperwork to determine eligibility is removed.
Sarah St. Pierre, principal of Hall School, said 92 percent of the school’s budget increase is to cover salaries and benefits.
Mike Cromett, director of facilities for Waterville Public Schools, said $50,000 was spent on sprinkler and backflow prevention work at Hall School, which was required by the Kennebec Water District.
The cost of the work is higher than at other schools because the boarding school is an older facility, he said.
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