Skagway schools are scheduled to start next Wednesday, (August 18), with a new plan the district says will allow for more flexible COVID mitigation measures. KHNS’ Mike Swasey checked in with Superintendent Josh Coughran about the plan for school re-opening.
Swasey – School starts Wednesday. What is the plan as far as COVID mitigation at the school as you begin this school year?
Coughran – The school board passed a mitigation plan in late July. And probably the biggest applicable factors are masks and physical distancing. In the original plan, if staff or students are 12 years old that masks are optional. And then under 12 years old, the masks are going to be worn when six feet of distance cannot be maintained.
But we did include a caveat in the mask policy where we can amend the masking guidance based on conditions in the community. And that’s what we did last week. If there is active community transmission or concern for community transmission, we will be in a universal masking protocol.
Swasey – And so that means everybody, staff, students, any visitors, everybody has to mask when they come in.
Coughran – Yep, everybody inside the building at any time, except for lunch, of course.
Swasey – And what happens at lunch?
Coughran – At lunch, we’ve put the students six feet apart. We actually had to tweak our lunch schedule a little bit. So we’re actually running four different lunch shifts, where usually we’d only run two. But we measured it out in the cafeteria, and just barely, we’re going to have enough space to get kids six feet apart.
Swasey – Okay, at this point, when you start school on Wednesday, though, there’s going to be universal masking until we don’t have any active COVID cases in town. Am I getting that correct?
Coughran – Essentially, yes, but the operative word would be community transmission. That’s going to be the determining factor. There may be a time during the school year where there’s an active case, but not necessarily a threat of community transmission and at that point, we wouldn’t go into universal masking protocol.
Swasey – Okay. And it’s fluid, you can make that call kind of on the fly.
Coughran – We can. Yeah, and I think that when I’ve talked to staff and parents and school board members, I think that they appreciate the fact that we can be flexible, and that we can mitigate the risk when it exists.
Swasey – How are extracurricular activities affected?
Coughran – We are going to, in cooperation with the clinic, we’re going to test those students on a weekly basis. When students travel, they’re going to be tested immediately prior to travel, and then three to five days upon their return. And in that window of three to five days when they don’t have their test results yet. They will be in that universal masking protocol.
Swasey – Okay. Will they be masking while participating in athletics?
Coughran – That remains to be seen under the current protocol. If there was not community transmission going on, I would say no. But if there is community transmission, and we are in the universal masking protocol, then most likely, yes.
However, you know, we don’t necessarily have to deal with indoor activities for at least another month or two. And so we’ve got some time to devise that plan. And I’m sure that’s going to be part of our school board discussions.
Swasey – Okay, thanks so much.
The school administration also sent out a letter to all parents detailing the plan, which is available here.
