Required Public Postings

MSAD 72 

ESSER III Fund Plan

Background:

Since the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, schooling as we knew it before that date changed. Schools have subsequently had to deal with remote teaching, supporting families virtually, delivering food to families, and many other unique challenges. To support schools, the federal government has made available additional funding to support the education of students during the pandemic. A summary of federal stimulus money to date appears below:

Federal Stimulus Funds:

• Coronavirus Relief Fund I (CRF I): $634,000

These funds were used for the following: PPE ($14,000), COVID Staff ($112,000), Laptops and Hardware ($88,000), Cleaning Supplies ($120,000), Vans for transportation and food runs ($230,000), Classroom Supplies ($4,000) and Food Service Supplies ($68,000). 

• Coronavirus Relief Fund II (CRF II): $666,000

These funds were used for the following: Student Support ($284,000), Staff Support ($61,000), School Administration ($10,000), Facilities Supplies ($262,000), Transportation Sanitization ($31,000) and Food Service ($10,000). 

• Elementary and Secondary Schools Educational Relief I (ESSERF I): $189,000

These funds were used for the following: Laptops ($150,000), Software ($10,000), Educational Testing Wages ($12,000) and Supplies ($18,000). 

• Elementary and Secondary Schools Educational Relief II (ESSERF II): $784,000

These funds are currently being used to fund a summer program to address COVID-related learning loss ($25,000) and to fund Interventionist positions to support students who did not thrive during remote instruction ($760,000) for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school year. 

• American Rescue Plan (ARP) or ESSERF III: $1,700,000

This document will address the proposed use of these funds. 

Permissible Use of ARP Funds:

• training and professional development on sanitizing and minimizing the spread of infectious diseases;

• purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean the SAU's facilities;

• repairing and improving school facilities to reduce risk of virus transmission;

• improving indoor air quality;

• addressing the needs of children from low-income families, children with disabilities, etc.;

• planning for or implementing activities during long-term closures; 

• purchasing educational technology;

• providing mental health services and supports;

• planning and implementing supplemental after-school or summer programs;

• addressing learning loss.

Process:

It is critically important to frame any decisions about the use of the funds using the lens of our district mission, which is “Supporting the whole child to engage in lifelong learning.” Students have been negatively impacted academically (through lack of support during remote instruction), emotionally (through the societal impacts of the pandemic on families), and socially (through social isolation and the loss of many enrichment activities such as sports). Supporting the whole child means acknowledging students’ holistic needs and not simply focusing on academic concerns. 

To help us determine the best use of the funds, an “ARP Stakeholder Survey” was sent out to all district staff and families on July 29, 2021, to get feedback on areas of need. The survey included a section on permissible uses of the funds. Based upon the feedback, our stakeholders felt the following four areas should be the areas of focus:

1. Addressing learning loss.

2. Providing mental health services.

3. Improving indoor air quality. 

4. Providing after school/summer programming. 

One other important point to mention is the requirement to use 20% of the total amount to focus on learning recovery, which in this case amounts to $353,000. 

The following section outlines a draft plan of how the funds will be used. 

Addressing Learning Loss: ($500,000)

Funds will be used to pay interventionists, and these interventionists will work with classroom teachers to provide targeted support to students who are struggling academically. The main focus of this work will be in the areas of English Language Arts (ELA) and Math. 

Providing Mental Health Services: ($200,000)

With the emergence of significant mental-health concerns during the pandemic, we must invest in additional support in this area for students, families, and staff. Investing in this area will mean that we can hire an additional social worker for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school year to provide this much-needed support. 

Improving Indoor Air Quality: ($500,000)

Based upon stakeholder feedback, improving indoor air quality was deemed an important consideration. By investing money into upgrading our HVAC system, this will help us assure the best air quality for all members of the school community. 

Providing Supplemental Programming: ($100,000)

Due to the limitations of a 175-day (student) school year, we will continue to invest in summer programming to support students who were or continue to be negatively impacted by the pandemic. This will allow us to run a robust summer program in both the summer of 2022 and 2023. 

Technology: ($200,000)

In order to potentially make shifts from in-person to hybrid models of educating students, we must have access to high-quality hardware to supplement instruction. To provide both staff and students with appropriate technology, that means upgrading both our devices as well as our infrastructure. 

Transportation: ($200,000)

Safety with respect to transportation continues to be an ongoing hurdle. Now that students K-12 have returned to sports as well as other co and extra-curricular pursuits, we need vehicles available to safely transport students in numbers that maintain appropriate distances on the bus. This becomes especially challenging for some of our larger secondary activities, such as football or other sports activities that include numerous students. Without expanding our fleet of full-sized buses, we become increasingly unable to accommodate both daily routes as well as additional activities outside of the school day. Purchasing two buses will help us meet our ongoing transportation demands. 

Summary of Stimulus Spending

The purpose of this document is to provide summary information regarding the manner in which COVID-relief money has been spent. Directly below is a summary of the budget for the four grants for which plans have been written and approved. Below that, you can find more detailed information on the individual purchases within each grant.

ESSERF (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund) ($189,712.19)

Laptops ($150,000)

Software ($10,000)

Wages for K-1 Support ($12,000)

Library Supplies ($18,000)

ESSERF2 ($784,433.59)

Project 1.1
1. Project Name: Summer Programming
2. Date of determination: 5/1/21
3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Administrative Team
4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: For students who have not thrived as a result of remote instruction, we are developing a holistic summer program to support recommended students: Each student will have an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) that highlights academic gaps, social-emotional needs, or any other barrier to learning. The plans will assist the summer staff in providing targeted support.
5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: Now that we have identified the students and have received affirmation from parents on numbers, we are dedicating six staff members to run a four-day-per-week, six-week program: These staff members will be paid on an hourly basis.
6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: Given that we have students who have suffered academically, socially, and emotionally, we are address student needs by offering proactive summer programming to set students up for success moving forward.
7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: ($25,205)
8. What products or services are to be procured as a result of this project: The entirety of the budget will be used to pay instructional staff to plan and deliver instruction to students. 

Project 1.2
1. Project Name: School-Year Support for Pandemic Learning Loss
2. Date of determination: 5/1/21
3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: The administrative team in consultation with the local union and selected staff.
4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Since at least 40% of our students started remotely, and all of our students were remote during the last part of the 2019-2020 school year, many students did not thrive due to isolation, lack of home support, lack of internet, lack of consistent attendance, etc. These gaps and the long-term impacts of the pandemic on select students has the potential to severely hamper these students success moving forward unless we provide interventions.
5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: We are developing a holistic, targeted intervention system for all students who suffered as a result of the period during which they engaged in remote instruction.
6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: For each student, we are developing an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) that will be developed to target academic, SEL, or other interventions as needed.
7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: ($615,573.59).
8. What products or services are to be procured as a result of this project: The entirety of the budget will be used to pay instructional staff to plan and deliver instruction and support to identified students. 

Project 1.3
1. Project Name: Contact Tracing Support Position
2. Date of determination: 10/1/21
3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: The administrative team in consultation with our nursing staff.
4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Giving the increase in positive COVID cases and the need to do in-depth contact tracing, we need additional support to deal with communication around positive cases in order to support our nurses.
5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: We are hiring a person to help with contact tracing, phone calls, data entry, etc.
6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: Our communication around positive cases is integral to assuring a healthy school community.
7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: ($23,655).
8. What products or services are to be procured as a result of this project: The entirety of the budget will be used to pay the individual supporting contact tracing. 

Project 1.4
1. Project Name: Additional School Nurse
2. Date of determination: 1/26/22
3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: The administrative team in consultation with our nursing staff.
4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Giving the increase in positive COVID cases and all of the communication needed with all constituents (staff, students families, administrator), our District Nurse is in need of more support to not only manage the pandemic but all of her other district-wide responsibilities.
5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: We are hiring an additional school nurse to help triage all of the pandemic-related issues as well as the day-to-day non-pandemic student health needs.
6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: To maintain a healthy community, we need more nursing support.
7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: ($120,000).
8. What products or services are to be procured as a result of this project: The entirety of the budget will be used to pay the individual supporting contact tracing. 

CRF1 (Coronavirus Relief Fund) ($634,656.81)

PPE ($14,000)

Wages for Tech Overtime and COVID Staff ($112,000)

Laptops and Tech Hardware ($88,000)

Facilities Supplies and Equipment ($120,000)

Vans ($230,000)

Classroom Supplies ($4,000)

Food Service Freezer and Paper Products ($68,000)

CRF2 ($666,311.93)

Student Supports:

Project Code: 1.1 (Student Support)

1. Project Name: Contracted Services for Student Assessments

2. Date of determination: 07/01/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Pat Menzel

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Due to the period of remote learning at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, identified students needed to be assessed prior to the 2020-2021 school year to determine any potential learning loss.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: During a normal school year, students who were tested would have had access to extended year programming. However, given the move to all remote learning and our inability to hold summer programming, these assessments were an unanticipated expense.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: One of our contracted evaluators scheduled assessments with families to inform our instructional approach for many identified students.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $4547.63

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: As explained above, these costs were not accounted for in the FY21 budget as we still felt that in-person summer programming was an option.

Project Code: 1.2 (Student Support)

1. Project Name: Playground Supplies

2. Date of determination: 10/01/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Mark Schrader

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Due to social-distancing requirements and the suggestion to avoid having students share common objects, we have had to use a creative approach to playground supplies.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: Ordering additional playground supplies for each student cohort and storing these supplies separately costs money.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: We are minimizing the risk of contamination to students by providing separate playground supplies for each student cohort in each grade level.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $3,459.05

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: As explained above, these costs were not accounted for in the FY21 budget as we had no idea that we would have to provide separate supplies for each student attending in person.

Project Code: 1.3 (Student Support)

1. Project Name: Technology Hardware

2. Date of determination: 10/08/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Jim LaPlante

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Building upon the recommendation to hold outdoor classes, we had to bolster our ability to provide instruction and archive instruction outside of our facility. This required additional laptops for students and also caused us to have to increase the number of Wireless Access Points (WAP). Finally, to make the instruction accessible to students who may have missed class, we had to develop a method to archive those classes for access later on using 8 storage hard drives for data storage.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: In order to revamp our instructional approach for outdoor education as well as to supplement our delivery of remote instruction, it was necessary to invest in appropriate technology hardware.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: To minimize the risk of students infection, we are utilizing outdoor instructional spaces and providing parents the option of remote learning.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $134,978

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: As explained above, these costs were not accounted for in the FY21 budget as we didn’t know we would have to move to a hybrid instructional model.

Project Code: 1.4 (Student Support)

1. Project Name: Distance-Learning Supplies

2. Date of determination: 10/08/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Jim LaPlante

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: With the need to develop hybrid learning options (in-person as well as remote), our remote learners need additional support that families don't have access to. We also need associated supplies (dongles, cases, etc.) to go with the additional laptops purchased. Lastly, to address the higher load of technology use on our servers, we need to invest in more RAM.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: To adequately deliver distance-learning options, we need the following supplies: earbuds/earphones to minimize ambient noise while at-home learners are accessing instruction (200); blue-light tinted glasses to help remote learners avoid headaches due to prolonged screen time (200); and wireless mice to assist our younger learners in using their laptops (50). We also had to order 150 cases and dongles to go with the laptops in project 1.3 above, and more RAM (3,000).

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: Distance learning has a unique set of associated challenges, and this investment will help students learning remotely access educational opportunities.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $20,401.00

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: As explained above, these costs were not accounted for in the FY21 budget as we weren’t aware of what additional supplies would be needed to support remote learners.

Project Code: 1.5 (Student Support)

1. Project Name: Instructional Supplies

2. Date of determination: 3/3/2021

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Jay Robinson

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: To allow students to work individually without sharing “community” resources, we have had to order additional math manipulatives as well as more laminating film so that classroom supplies can be cleaned. Due to cohorting, our music classes also have to be held in grade-level teacher classrooms, which means music teachers need carts to travel.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: We are putting these measures in place to minimize the chance of spread of COVID 19.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: To minimize the risk of infection, we have changed our delivery of instruction and have provided students with individual supplies rather than using community supplies.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $3,440

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not anticipate this need when developing the FY21 budget.

Project Code: 1.6 (Student Support)

1. Project Name: Tech-Related Supplies

2. Date of determination: 3/3/2021

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Jay Robinson

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Due to the need to deliver instruction to all students learning remotely, we have had to increase our available technology.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: We are putting these measures in place to allow remote instruction.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: To minimize the risk of infection, we have changed our delivery of instruction which requires technology support. 

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $117,194

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not anticipate this need when developing the FY21 budget.

Staff Support:

Project Code: 2.1 (Staff Support)

1. Project Name: Voice Amplification Systems

2. Date of determination: 10/08/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Jim LaPlante

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Given that we are in a hybrid system, our classroom teachers need a method of amplifying their voices to improve instruction for remote learners.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: As a result of our need to instruct students who are accessing education remotely, we need to assure that sound quality is sufficient.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: The voice amplification system is the direct result of operating in a hybrid system.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $2,400

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: As explained above, these costs were not accounted for in the FY21 budget as we didn't know we would have to implement a hybrid instructional model.

Project Code: 2.2 (Staff Support)

1. Project Name: Laminators

2. Date of determination: 10/05/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Diana Witt

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Due to the pandemic, we have to sanitize each instructional space, including walls. This would have the potential to damage any paper materials on walls.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: To protect classroom decorations and instructionally-related materials posted on classroom walls, we have the need to laminate everything that is posted in classrooms.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: To meet sanitization requirements, we have had to laminate anything posted on classroom walls.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $6,225

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: These costs were not included in the FY21 budget given that we had no knowledge of the sanitization requirements at that time.

Project Code: 2.3 (Staff Support) - Copier ($8,192)

1. Project Name: Copier

2. Date of determination: 10/08/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Jim LaPlante

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Our staff guidelines for the pandemic require that no one congregates in common areas such as the teachers room, which is where we house a copier that is used by many of our staff members.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: To maintain social distancing and to prevent staff members from congregating in common areas, we have had to add a copier at The Molly Ockett School.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: We are adding a copier to minimize social contacts between staff members.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $8,191.99

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget:These costs were not included in the FY21 budget. We had money to REPLACE a copier, which we are still doing, but we did not account for the need to expand available copiers at The Molly Ockett School. 

Project Code: 2.4 (Staff Support) – Adapters for Computer Carts $44,240

1. Project Name: Adapters for Computer Carts

2. Date of determination: 3/3/2021

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Jim LaPlante

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Due to the need to fluidly move from in-person instruction to remote instruction, we have had to go one-to-one with student technology. This increase in devices requires the ability to charge the devices and to keep them ready for use.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: Due to the need to prepare and to offer remote instruction as a viable option, we have vastly increased our number of iPads and laptops.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: Ability to maintain instruction remotely.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $44,200

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not anticipate this need when developing the FY21 budget.

School Administration:

Project Code: 3.1 (Personal Protective Equipment)

1. Project Name: PPE

2. Date of determination: 10/01/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Ike Heffron

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Given the limited supply of PPE that we were able to secure from the DOE, we are in need of additional supplies.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: We are going through our supply of PPE faster than anticipated and have a need for additional supplies.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: Given that we are in a pandemic, the need for PPE is self-evident.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $10,100

8. Costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We didn’t account for PPE in the FY21 budget.

Operation Maintenance & Plant:

Project Code: 4.1 (Operation and Maintenance of Plant)

1. Project Name: Sanitizing Supplies

2. Date of determination: 10/01/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Ike Heffron

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: In order to meet sanitization needs of our safety plans, additional supplies are required.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: We are following our cleaning protocols, and the daily as well as interim cleanings are exhausting our supplies at a rapid pace.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: Individual members of our school community have a need for supplies to disinfect themselves and areas they occupy throughout the day.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $5,000

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not account for sanitization supplies for the pandemic in our FY21 budget.

Project Code: 4.2 (Operation and Maintenance of Plant)

1. Project Name: Surveillance Cameras

2. Date of determination: 10/08/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Ike Heffron

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: With the increase in students and staff using external locations for instruction throughout the day, and given that those external locations are not secure locations, we have invested in better monitoring equipment so that we can maintain the safety of those who are outside of the school during the day.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: There were dead areas in our surveillance that are being used for instruction, mask breaks, etc. This investment will increase our ability to monitor all areas.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: We have a need for additional space outside to meet all of the educational and other demands, and in order to do this safely we have had to invest in additional cameras.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $2,150

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not account for this expenditure in our FY21 budget as these areas had not previously been used for instruction and other purposes.

Project Code: 4.3 (Operation and Maintenance of Plant)

1. Project Name: Vacuum Cleaners and Extractors

2. Date of determination: 10/07/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Ike Heffron

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: With additional cleaning staff needed to maintain our cleaning schedule due to the pandemic, we also have a need for additional cleaning equipment.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: We are cleaning all areas of our facilities twice daily, which creates the need for additional staffing and equipment.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: To keep our school community safe, we have established very strict cleaning protocols for all areas that house members of the school community throughout the day.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $22,805

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: These costs were not accounted for in the FY21 budget.

Project Code: 4.4 (Operation and Maintenance of Plant)

1. Project Name: Ionizers

2. Date of determination: 10/07/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Ike Heffron

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Indoor air quality is at a premium, so we are investing in resources to help support access to pathogen-free air for indoor spaces.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: In conjunction with updated filters, the ionizers will provide added protection against indoor transmission of the virus.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: We feel that incorporating additional safeguards to minimize the risk inside indoor areas is a reasonable safeguard.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $10,706

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We were not aware of the need for this added precaution at the time the FY21 budget was developed.

Project Code: 4.5 (Operation and Maintenance of Plant)

1. Project Name: Pod Storage

2. Date of determination: 3/3/2021

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Ike Heffron

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: To set classrooms up to meet social-distancing guidelines, we had to remove a significant amount of furniture, which had to be stored.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: To appropriately set up classrooms for social distancing, we had to store a lot of furniture.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: Social Distancing

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $575

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not anticipate this need when developing the FY21 budget.

Project Code: 4.6 (Operation of Maintenance and Plant)

1. Project Name: Support for Social Distancing and Increased Cleaning

2. Date of determination: 3/3/2021

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Ike Heffron

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: In order to maintain the frequency of cleaning needed during a pandemic, we had to increase custodial support, which requires more custodial carts ($1,497). We also had to change furnishings in classrooms from larger communal desks to individualized desks so that students could social distance ($11,806).

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: To support increased cleaning required and to allow appropriate social distancing of students, we had to invest in custodial carts and more individual student desks.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: Sanitization and Social Distancing

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $13,303.40

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not anticipate this need when developing the FY21 budget.

Project Code: 4.7 (Operation of Maintenance and Plant)

1. Project Name: COVID Support Staff

2. Date of determination: 3/3/2021

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Jay Robinson

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Due to increased cleaning and sanitization requirements, the need to take student temperatures upon entry, the need to deliver lunches to classrooms, and the need to supervise more cohorts of students to allow for social distancing, we have had to employ additional staff in creative ways.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: We need additional staff to meet the Department of Education framework for reopening expectation as well as those of the CDC.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: In order to successfully implement sanitization and safety measures, we need supplemental staff.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $208,018.61

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not anticipate this need when developing the FY21 budget.

Transportation:

Project Code: 5.1 (Transportation)

1. Project Name: Bus Cleaning

2. Date of determination: 09/04/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Ike Heffron

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: Due to the close quarters of busses, and as a precautionary measure, all drivers are doing detailed cleaning of all surfaces between bus runs.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: The additional driver hours are necessary to implement the added cleaning routines.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: Since the virus can live on surfaces for extended periods of time, the only method of assuring safe access to transportation is for drivers to clean thoroughly in between runs.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $31,325.00

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not anticipate this need when developing the FY21 budget.

Food Service:

Project Code: 6.1 (Food Service)

1. Project Name: Utility Carts

2. Date of determination: 8/24/2020

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Samantha Wedgewood

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: To allow for delivery of food to classrooms for the purposes of avoiding large-group gatherings and mixing of cohorts, we need carts that can be used for in-school food delivery.

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: The added staff who are carting food from a centralized cafeteria to satellite classrooms need carts to make deliveries.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: We are creating individually packed food that is delivered to segregated cohorts in each school, and we are using classrooms rather than the cafeteria to avoid large gatherings of students in common areas.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $7,305.72

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not anticipate this need when developing the FY21 budget.

Project Code: 6.2 (Food Service)

1. Project Name: Miscellaneous Supplies

2. Date of determination: 3/3/2021

3. Name of person in authority at the school making the determination: Samantha Wedgewood

4. A description of the impact to the school from the Covid-19 public health emergency: To enable us to serve food for consumption remotely and in individual classrooms, we have to invest in more paper goods ($1,355.83), warmers ($6,000), shelving ($896.12), and delivery bags ($1,694.28).

5. Guidelines and recommendations being implemented for which the school is incurring costs: Since we have students whose families need food delivered and since we can’t serve food in a communal space (the cafeteria), we have the need for more basic supplies.

6. A description of the necessary response the school is taking to address the public health emergency: Support for remote families and social distancing needs.

7. An estimate of the costs associated with the specific determination: $9,946.23

8. A statement that the costs were not included in the schools recently approved budget: We did not anticipate this need when developing the FY21 budget.

(ARP) ESSERF3 ($1,761,726.42)

As part of our application for federal grant money through Elementary and Secondary Education Act ( ESEA), we are seeking public input on how the money will be used. The public comment period runs from July 20, 2022 to July 26, 2022. If you have questions or comments about this grant, please email rhonda.poliquin@msad72.org

The ESEA Dashboard for Maine School Data.
https://www.maine.gov/doe/dashboard

Fraud, Waste and Abuse Annual Notification

Maine School Administrative District No. 72 

          PUBLIC NOTICE

                                                                    NOTICE OF DESTRUCTION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION FILES

As of September 30th, 2023, MSAD#72 will begin to destroy Special Services Education Records for Special Services students who attended school in the MSAD#72 School District and graduated in the 2012-2013 school year. If you graduated in the 2012-2013 school year and would like to obtain your Special Services Education Records please contact the Special Services office at (207)935-2600 ext. 3 before September 30th, 2023. A record of the student’s name, address, phone number, grades, attendance record, classes attended, grade level completed and year completed will be permanently maintained as required by law.

Plan for Safe Return to In-Person Instruction  

General Health Guidelines 2023-2024:

- If you are sick, stay home and away from others until at least 24 hours after both: your symptoms are getting better overall, and you have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication). You may resume normal activities, and use added prevention strategies (including masking) over the next five days. 

- We will no longer be tracking return dates for positive cases or exposures.

- Childhood immunizations remain mandated and vaccinations for COVID and flu are encouraged.

- Parents will still need to account for all their students’ absences.

- Masking is optional unless stated otherwise.

- These guidelines are subject to change based upon CDC recommendations.