The Haines School. (Emily Files)
This week school districts in Haines and Skagway will approve their final plans for reopening amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The schools will implement a number of health precautions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Back in June, Alaska’s Department of Education and Early Development released the Smart Start framework to help schools figure out how they can operate safely during the pandemic.
During a town hall meeting last Thursday, Haines School Superintendent Roy Getchell said that framework has been through a lot of changes.
“It started off in May at 2 pages, went to 10 pages in June and then on Monday it went to 47. There’s a lot of change because there are a lot of things that we are learning,” Getchell said.
Initially the Smart Start plan provided a broad framework that asked schools to figure out how to operate under three risk levels: low, medium and high. Now the state has issued specific recommendations such as separating students into smaller groups, limiting events and activities, and wearing face coverings throughout the day.
Haines and Skagway Schools released the first drafts of their plans for re-opening at the end of June and have been collecting feedback from the public since then. Getchell said that any plan that they come up with is subject to change.
“No matter what we start with may not be what we end with or what we have in two weeks or whatever. It’s our best measured guess at the time that has been put together collaboratively,” Getchell said.
In Haines, the school board will consider adopting a compressed schedule from 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. with students maintaining contact with a small group of peers for the entire day. Kindergarten would move to a half day. Other health precautions include temperature checks before entering the building, face coverings for staff and students in high density situations, and suspension of some activities like open gym.
Getchell said that the school will move to online learning entirely if there is a high rate of coronavirus transmission in the community.
“Any plan that is presented in any community really across the country is going to be dependent on the small actions we all take individually—whether we’re at home whether we’re at work—the things that we do to contribute to try to keep things under control so that we are able to have more options and more flexibility.”
The Skagway School’s latest plan would require temperature screenings and a set of physical distancing measures to keep students apart. The school plans to purchase face coverings and require students to wear them throughout the day. The school is also considering the suspension of all sporting events and travel for competitions this fall.
Both schools will offer home schooling and distance learning options for families who are uncomfortable sending students to school.
The Haines and Skagway School Boards will discuss whether to adopt their final reopening plans Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. Details for how to attend the meetings via video conference are listed below.
Haines School Board Meeting
To join the Zoom meeting click the link below. When prompted enter the meeting ID and passcode.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 720 3359 1213
Passcode: Wv78Fv
Skagway School Board Meeting
Meeting ID: 850 7347 5577
Passcode: kc5mKw
