Some of Maine's community colleges have delayed the beginning of their spring semester as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the state.
Both Washington County Community College and Kennebec Valley Community College will start the semester about a week later because of the current surge.
KVCC Interim President Karen Normandin said that the school originally planned to begin the semester on January 10th, but she said it decided to push that out until the 18th to add a bit of extra time between holiday gatherings and the start of classes.
"We would get a little bit more time to do administrative work," Normandin said. "And we would also, hopefully, not deal with the surge in COVID that is being experienced around the country."
The Maine Community College System is also requiring that all students involved in on-campus activities receive a booster shot, when eligible.
Two private schools — Bates College and the College of the Atlantic — have announced that they'll use remote learning for a few days at the beginning of the semester, during baseline COVID testing.
