The Maine School Administrative District 75 school board discusses concerns raised by teachers Thursday about the strain on teacher workload as students return to school full-time. Screenshot

Elementary students in Maine School Administrative District 75 will resume full in-person learning starting April 5, according to Interim Superintendent Bob Lucy.

The move is part of a plan approved by the school board in October 2020 to incrementally transition students from a mix of in-person and remote learning to full in-person learning.

Nicole Karod, president of the Merrymeeting Teachers Association, raised concerns Thursday about bringing elementary students and sixth-graders back to school full-time during the pandemic, as well as about the loss of planning time caused by bringing students back on Wednesdays.

“Is our priority to have students in a building, or to receive the best education in the building?” Karod said. “Does MSAD 75 value the time that it takes to plan for teaching and learning and provide that time for our teachers?”

Students in pre-K through 5th grade will have a two-hour late start on Wednesdays to allow class planning time for teachers.

Karod said she’s heard teachers in MSAD 75 this week say there is no time to use the bathroom, no time to plan for teaching and learning for students, and the job is impossible without putting in several hours beyond their contracted hours.

“In order to do the job that you’re asking of us, we need more,” Karod said. “More time to plan for quality instruction, more supports for special education students, more subs in our buildings.”

Board member Mary Hobson said the school board needs to do a better job listening to the needs of teachers. She asked if the district has looked at using federal coronavirus relief funding to hire more education professionals or other ways to alleviate the planning time teachers are losing.

Board member Holly Kopp, chair of the finance committee, said the committee can discuss additional resources in the budget to support teachers.

The elementary schools transitioned incrementally from two to four days of in-person instruction through December and February.

Mt. Ararat Middle School still needs to hire a sixth-grade science teacher before Grade 6 can return to the school full-time, interim principal Megan Hayes Teague said.

Grades 7 and 8 returned to the Topsham school full-time on March 22. Hayes Teague had planned to have sixth graders return to the school by April 5, but said Thursday that it may be later.