Schools to open with in-person classes

After deliberation by school administration, the Wrangell School District will be opening the new year with in-person classes. In an announcement by Superintendent Debbe Lancaster, on Aug. 24, all three schools will be operating at the "medium risk" level of their SMART Start plan. The decision comes after consulting with local and state officials on this decision, she said.

"Please keep in mind that we will strictly adhere to our mitigation plan, our district has mandated masks on all district property, and we will spend the next several days preparing for re-opening school on September 8," Lancaster's announcement reads. "Our website will be updated soon as needed. We are working with health care professionals to determine exactly what our screening and isolation processes will be. As we firm up those plans later this week, we will publish them on our SMART START web page which is a link offered on our district web page."

The medium risk for the SMART Start plan will have regular school days at the secondary level from Monday to Thursday, with in-class instruction. Fridays will be half days, according to the plan. At the elementary school, the medium risk level will have half of the student body learning in class, and the other half distance learning. Lancaster said, in her announcement, that Jennifer Miller-Yancey and Bob Davis have the specific schedules for class times at the elementary and secondary schools, respectively.