PORTLAND, Maine — For the first time in more than a year and a half, students in Portland are back in school full-time.
"Really excited to see all of these guys here in person," Portland Public Schools Superintendent Xavier Botana told NEWS CENTER Maine.
Botana noted that all students have to wear masks and students will be spaced out when appropriate.
"It's hard to be able to have everybody back and keep those distances, so we're guaranteeing like 3-feet during meals and things like that," he said.
He is also urging all eligible students and staff to get vaccinated.
"Between 85 and 90% of our students are vaccinated, so that's really good," Botana said.
Ann-Marie Gribbon-Bouchard has two kids in the district. One is in 7th grade and the other is in 10th grade. She said both are vaccinated.
"I'm ready for my kids to have structure, to get on a schedule, to do in-person learning," Gribbon-Bouchard said.
Meanwhile, Botana said in a few weeks, students grades K through 6 will be taking part in pool testing. Students will be tested once a week with parents' permission.
Botana said there are concerns, especially with the delta variant, but he said he is remaining optimistic.
"We did end the year where things looked much better than they do today. It's a little bit of a step back but we have a year of experience on how to run school with these mitigation measures, so I think that's really positive and obviously the vaccine," he said.
Botana said only a handful of students are learning remotely. He also said the school board will be discussing vaccines for staff next week.