NORTHPORT — The following letter was distributed by the administrative team at Edna Drinkwater School on March 12. 

Dear Parent/Guardian: 

We understand that the Novel Coronavirus, now known as COVID-19, is causing much anxiety in our community, country and the world. The Edna Drinkwater School is working to provide you with the most up to date information on this rapidly evolving situation. 

This week the administrative team, including the school nurse, met and developed an emergency plan for our school regarding COVID-19. The plan includes coverage for staff in the event of absenteeism, the purchase of additional disinfecting materials, additional staff to clean classrooms/common areas, and communication with Luce Transportation regarding daily cleaning of our buses. Marcia will be tracking not only absences of students and staff, but also the symptoms of students and staff that are not in school due to illness, to keep us better informed in case of a possible case of Coronavirus in our school Any instance of the virus in our school would immediately be reported to the Maine CDC and they would direct us to next steps. Mrs. Loring, the school nurse, went into each classroom to review effective hand-washing strategies with students. 

Our team is communicating on a daily basis to review all updates from the CDC and the Department of Education. Here are recommendations from the CDC and the DOE on what you can do know to be proactive: 

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

• Keep children home when they are sick. Students may not return to school for 24 hours after they are fever-free without any medication, including Tylenol, etc. 

• Remind them to wash their hands with soap and water (or use hand sanitizer) after they touch their face, use the restroom and before they eat. 

• Tell children to avoid touching their mouth and nose since that is how germs get into the body. 

If your child is absent due to sickness, please notify Marcia and report the symptoms that your child is experiencing. Currently, the CDC is recommending that all institutions avoid any community gatherings that involve large numbers of people. At this time, we have decided that we will need to postpone our PTG Family Feud event on March 20th to a later date. 

We are receiving updates as The Maine Department of Education is working directly with Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor this evolving situation. We will continue to provide new information to the community as things change. 

Sincerely, 

Ms. Long, Superintendent
Mr. Martin, Principal
Ms. Loring, School Nurse