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It's official: Rochester schools going remote after Thanksgiving

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Students, teachers and teacher's aides emerge from the Maple Street Magnet School first day of school in August. Inschool learning will end for a while after Thankgiving. (Rochester Voice file photo)

ROCHESTER - Beginning with the Thanksgiving holiday, Rochester schools will go to a fully remote learning model through MLK day in January.

A remote plan for the holidays was floated by the school department and Supt. Kyle Repucci earlier this month and the School Board decided to implement it at Thursday's meeting.

The plan calls for all-remote learning from Nov. 30 to Jan. 19.

Repucci reasoned that the model would allow families to travel during the holidays without having to make extensive plans on quarantining and going back and forth from remote to model as many as two or three times through MLK day.

As part of Thursday's decision students will not have school on Monday, Nov. 23 and Tuesday, Nov. 24, as these will now be teacher workshop days to allow for staff to finalize their plans for the remote learning period.

There will also be an opportunity for some students - including those with multiple education services, who have intensive adult support or whose educational plans cannot be met outside of the school setting - to receive remote instruction or services at a school if needed. These students will be contacted by their school's administration no later than Nov. 6.

Surveys to gauge technology and food needs will be sent to all district families in the near future. Free meals for all students in the community will continue during the remote learning period. The district is also exploring the options available for meals to be delivered to students as well as alternative pick up locations throughout the community.

"Knowing that this holiday season may present more challenges than years prior, we worked to create a temporary change to our model as a proactive step to help protect the health and safety of our entire community," Repucci said. "This remains our utmost priority as we monitor the situation surrounding COVID-19. We are continuing to flesh out the model, including incorporating much of the feedback we received about remote learning in the spring, and will provide families with more information as soon as it is available."

Additionally the district sought out community partners to provide childcare for those individuals over the course of the remote learning period. The Strafford County YMCA will be able to provide child care in the Recreation Building during the remote learning period and further information about how to utilize that service will be sent home to families in the near future.

The district is working with other community organizations to create additional childcare options for families. Information about those options will be sent home when available, a statement from the superintendent's office said.

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