WPSD town hall answers SMART Start questions

The Wrangell Public School District held a virtual town hall meeting on Thursday, July 16, where school officials answered submitted questions from families regarding the SMART Start reopening plan for the upcoming school year.

The nearly two hour long meeting at one point had 72 participants. Board President Aaron Angerman, who moderated the town hall meeting, asked school officials the submitted questions from the public. Although a plan for how the school district will operate under COVID-19 restrictions in the fall hasn't been finalized yet, a draft of the document is currently being written with input from the borough Emergency Operations Center and the public.

To start off the meeting, Superintendent Debbe Lancaster explained the use of a low, medium and high risk state of operations system within the school district. The first half of the 2020-2021 school year is expected to be operating under a medium risk level, according to Lancaster. By sticking with a medium risk level for the first couple months, instead of switching from a low risk level one week to a medium risk the next, students are able to become comfortable with the COVID-19 restrictions by providing a sense of regularity.

"Our children's worlds may change all the time," said Lanaster. "They may have somebody get sick, or they may have something happen. They have got unpredictability in other places. We want school to be predictable. We do not want them to come in and wonder what kind of day it is."

During a medium risk scenario, the school district is looking to get all the students in school five days a week, while meeting social distancing and masking guidelines. A low risk state of operations, which wouldn't be considered until the end of December, would relax some COVID-19 restrictions, such as face masking. A high risk situation would require students to switch entirely to distance learning as no one would be allowed in the buildings.

Lancaster said the state of Alaska has put together a group of state health officials who will assist school districts with determining when they should switch between the three risk situations.

In the drafted SMART Start plan for Evergreen Elementary School, students are split into two groups. Group A would attend class in the mornings and group B would have in person instruction in the afternoons. The purpose of splitting the students up throughout the day is to ensure they stay at least six feet apart. While in class, students would be split up into groups of ten. The split schedule would also utilize a distance learning plan provided by teachers.

From Monday through Thursday, students in the secondary schools will attend class from 8:45 A.M. until 3:25 P.M. Fridays will be shorter in person instruction district wide, so the buildings can be thoroughly cleaned.

The elementary school could go back to a full day schedule if the school had more paraprofessionals on staff, said Lancaster. More groups of students could be spread throughout the school, who would be monitored by the paraprofessionals. Lancaster made it clear that teachers would still be responsible for the children's education. The paraprofessionals would only help students practice the skills they learned.

"Paraprofessionals are an extremely integral part of our education process, because what they do is allow the teachers to be able to give general instruction, small group instruction and then individualized instruction for those students that are struggling in gaining the content that they need," said Lancaster.

She said the school district has been advertising for paraprofessionals for several weeks, but there have been zero applicants.

The Wrangell Public School District is taking precautions to make sure students stay healthy while at school. The school district will be receiving several thousand cloth masks from the Wrangell Fire Department for students to wear while in school, in addition to the face masks being sent from the state, said Lancaster. There will also be one or two screening stations at each of the schools.

Secondary School Principal Bob Davis said the secondary schools are thinking about increasing the time for passing periods to allow for the staggering of students in the hallways. The secondary school could also leave some lockers vacant to create a space between students who might be retrieving materials out of their lockers.

Should a teacher test positive for COVID-19, Wrangell Public Nurse Erin Michael said the whole classroom wouldn't have to quarantine themselves, only the teacher; however, if the teacher came within six feet of a student for more than 10 minutes, that student may have to be quarantined, too. Teachers' desks are purposely spaced away from students' desk to limit the spread of COVID-19.

In the registration packets for the coming year, parents will sign a form that will allow their students' principal to be informed should the student test positive for the virus that way the school can take appropriate steps in informing close contacts, according to Lancaster.

As of last week's town hall meeting, all sports at the school district were moving forward as planned. Should the school district move to a high risk category, coaches would still be in contact with athletes to encourage them to stay active and follow their workout routines. Physical Education Teacher Jack Carney said some school districts are thinking about not including sports in the upcoming school year. If the pandemic begins to die down and students can safely participate in sports, then those schools that choose not to have sports would be behind the rest of the teams, he said.

"Those kids are going to be out of shape or dealing with some mental issues because they're not getting the activity they need, and they'll be behind in their sport or activity," said Carney.