AUBURN, Maine — "It's at the point where it's almost ludicrous," said Auburn Public School Superintendent Dr. Cornelia Brown.
Dr. Cornelia Brown is frustrated with the state after she said the Department of Education and the CDC keep changing guidelines for back to school.
"My patience has worn pretty thin about that. As I try to plan, I'm a parent, I have a daughter in high school, that guidance continues to shift and I think it impacts families in a very unreasonable way," said Dr. Brown.
Last week, the school committee removed the option for a four-day in-person instruction. Students in Auburn will now attend classes two days a week in cohorts and learn from home the other three days.
The decision comes after new guidelines released by the state on August 26, detail the protocols for contact tracing in schools.
"As a school leader, it would have been really helpful if I had that two weeks ago, or even ten days ago," said Dr. Brown.
Dr. Brown went before the Auburn City Council Tuesday night to discuss reopening plans.
"Can the hybrid model increase risk to students and staff if students are co-mingling outside of school?" asked Mayor Jason Levesque.
"The hybrid model is intended to keep students in cohorts as small as possible so that if necessary measures can be taken to mitigate the transmission of COVID. The cohort model is intended to reduce the spread in schools, not to prevent the spread," replied Dr. Brown.
City councilors asked what the school department needs right now.
"I need four teachers, long-term subs, regular substitute teachers, thirteen ed techs, a social worker, three bus drivers, bus aides, custodians, spare custodians, a nurse, kitchen assistant, maintenance workers, school psychologists, two speech and language pathologists, and a secretary," Dr. Brown answered.
Dr. Brown said it's not just her district that is short on staffing, she said it's a harsh reality across the state.
The Maine Department of Education released the following statement to NEWS CENTER Maine on Wednesday:
The Department of Education recognizes the Herculean efforts that our school leaders and educators are undertaking in their redesigning of education in the face of a dynamic pandemic. To that end, we have been active partners with our colleagues in the field, offering professional development, technical assistance and our direct phone lines to help them develop flexible plans that can adapt to the ongoing changes that we know are forthcoming, as the science and the virus itself evolves. This includes weekly meetings to hear and respond to questions presented by our superintendents and weekly meetings with the school nurses and our School Nurse Consultant, who has been reviewing with them the likely procedures for a positive case. The Standard Operating Procedure that was released to superintendents last Wednesday night was largely reflective of those conversations, and what our colleagues at CDC have said all along with regard to defining cases, close contacts and responses to a pandemic in any setting. We will continue to provide whatever assistance we can to Superintendent Brown and her team in Auburn during this unprecedented time.
