The Lewiston School Department has received a waiver from the state's minimum school day requirement in the wake of numerous weather and COVID-related cancellations.
The district requested the waiver earlier this year, and Superintendent Jake Langlais said it worked with the state on its schedule, in which the last day of classes will be held on June 15th, instead of June 23rd.
"The state wanted to know that we were doing everything we could to make sure we had school in-person as much as possible," Langlais said. "They recognized that Lewiston did everything they could, through the process, to have kids in person as much as possible. And that we were going to use some of that time, at the end of the year, for good professional development for staff."
Langlais said that training will help following a year in which many staff were overwhelmed by quarantines, absences, and other interruptions caused by COVID-19, and it will also offer some staff a bit of a breather before the beginning of summer school.
"The number one factor, at least for me, was how can we recognize the work that staff have done, the sacrifices that families and students have made, to just stay in person this year?" Langlais said.
A Maine Department of Education spokesperson said that seven districts in total were granted waivers related to COVID-19 disruptions.
