Maine schools to fund summer programs, safe reopenings with federal relief money
School districts must spend at least 20% of their allocations to address learning loss, and some superintendents say they are also looking at summer programming and additional staffing.
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Maine school districts receiving millions of dollars in additional federal coronavirus relief will use the money to address learning loss, summer programming and continuing efforts to safely reopen schools.
Portland Public Schools, the state’s largest district, is expecting to receive close to $18 million from the American Rescue Plan signed into law by President Biden last month. Some of the money will go to funding summer programming over the next two years as well as the needs associated with increasing in-person learning, said Superintendent Xavier Botana at a school board meeting Tuesday night.
Maine public school enrollments drop amid pandemic
More families are choosing to home-school or send their children to private schools, and the drop in public school enrollment can have financial implications for districts.
Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer
Enrollment in Maine’s public schools dropped by more than 4 percent this year, a significant decrease that comes as the coronavirus pandemic is driving more families to enroll in private school or home-school their children.
Numbers for homeschool enrollment have not yet been finalized, but to date the state has already seen an increase of more than 40 percent in home-school students. In 2019-20, about 6,880 Maine students were home-schooled, but that number is now at more than 10,100. Additionally, the state has had more than 860 students withdraw from public school to attend private schools this year, compared with about 290 last year.
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Robert Ganley teaches a U.S. history class at Old Orchard Beach High School on Monday. Ganley says the high school is lucky to be able to have in-person learning for all students four days a week, and when teachers can get vaccinated, other school districts may be able to expand their days of in-person learning.
Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Maine is not among the 26 states that have publicly released plans to vaccinate teachers against COVID-19, although Gov. Janet Mills said last week that the state’s teachers are “highly valued.”
Gabriel LaSalle, a senior at Old Orchard Beach High School, said he wants to see teachers vaccinated as soon as possible.
Remote learning could make snow days a thing of the past for some Maine schools
The pandemic has forced schools to make virtual learning the new norm. Officials say it provides great flexibility. Author: Zach Blanchard (NEWS CENTER Maine) Published: 8:39 PM EST February 1, 2021 Updated: 4:21 AM EST February 2, 2021
WESTBROOK, Maine With a nor easter bearing down on the state, school officials are looking to make the call for a snow day in a different way.
Remote learning through the pandemic has given teachers and students the tools necessary to have class from home regardless of the weather, and more and more superintendents in the state are seeing a viable option.
Westbrook moves forward with solar power plan
A solar farm at the Sandy Hill landfill is expected offset all energy used by municipal buildings, including the schools.
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WESTBROOK The city has contracted with a company to build a solar array that will power all city and school buildings and could save the city $3.5 million over the next 30 years.
C2, an energy company out of New York, is expected to have the solar array at the Sandy Hill landfill off Saco Street built in the next 12 to 14 months, according to Mayor Mike Foley. The company was chosen by both city and school administration.