LIMESTONE, Maine — Limestone Community School announced Oct. 27 via social media that they would be closing for distance learning as a result of COVID-19 concerns at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, which shares a building with the school.
MSSM Executive Director David Pearson said the school routinely tests faculty, staff and students. Last week, they conducted a full test and everybody came back negative. However after testing again one week later they received one positive result while the others were negative.
This individual was tested again immediately and is now isolated off campus and not within the immediate community.
“There is a possibility of a false positive, given that there was a negative test a week before. We will have those results back today,” he said on Oct. 27.
Pearson said MSSM is the only public school in the state that routinely tests its entire community. Because the school has been using a hybrid learning model, only about half of the student population — approximately 70 — are on campus. As a precautionary measure, he said all students are isolated and learning remotely in their dormitories.
MSSM conducted both swab and saliva tests on Monday. If the results are negative, the school will be able to continue with its hybrid learning model. If the results are positive, he said the school will immediately take steps recommended by the Maine CDC.
Pearson said the likelihood of exposure to Limestone Community School students is minimal as the school was closed most of last week when two individuals at Caribou High School — which shares students and resources with Limestone — were suspected of having COVID-19. The two probable cases were later confirmed to be negative.
The executive director said he hopes to receive confirmation that the case is a false positive so the school can resume normal operations. He said the facility is well-equipped to handle a full remote learning scenario with high bandwidth capabilities, high-definition webcams, panoramic technology allowing students to view a full classroom and noise-canceling microphones to ensure lectures are heard clearly.
“We’re trying to deal with this in a logical, sensible and rational manner,” he said. “We have professional support; we have people that are doing their jobs properly, and we are following the protocols and guidelines very clearly because we are a professional organization. We take this very seriously. Our No. 1 priority is the safety of our community.”
