MES Families, here is a letter from our school nurse:
1/11/2021
Greetings MSAD 37 families,
I hope this letter finds you well and that you have been able to find some normalcy in such a weird time. The CDC has asked that we reach out to the school community and provide a little more information regarding the Sara Alert System.
Going forward, if any staff or your student are identified as a close contact of a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 in school, you will be notified by the school through a phone call and provided initial guidance on next steps, including quarantining and testing. Once you have received notification from the school, the Maine CDC's Sara Alert System will begin sending you follow up guidance via text messages.
Sara Alert is an automated system that uses daily text messages to help people who have been identified as close contacts to monitor for symptoms after exposure, and provide direction if symptoms develop. All students and staff, if they choose, will be enrolled in Sara Alert if they are identified as having been in close contact with a COVID-19 positive person while at school.
There is nothing required of you to be enrolled in this service. In the event of a positive case at school, you will be given the choice of opting out of the Sara Alert when you are contacted by the school. I just wanted to provide information about what the Sara Alert entails beforehand. If you do opt out of the Sara Alert System, you will still receive a follow up phone call from Maine CDC and provided initial guidance from them in regard to the quarantine period.
Additional assistance is provided to Maine residents who have been identified as a close contact of a COVID-19 positive person and need support during quarantine. You may request this assistance by using this online form: https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/for.... Additional information about community care and social support is available here: https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/coronavirus-resources/support-for-isolation-quarantine, or you can send an email to dhhs.covid.socialsupport2maine.gov. Thanks for your time! For questions, please contact me at the school or email me at atozier@msad37.org.
Sincerely,
Amanda Tozier RN