Amid the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in town, Wrangell schools opened for classes on Monday with several measures in place to help protect students, staff and the community from further spread of the virus.
Those measures include face masks, sanitation cleaning, improved ventilation, distancing between students whenever possible, and policies for students and staff who travel out of town.
“It had been our hope that we would have been able to start the year with less restrictions, but the current COVID-19 variants (Delta especially, which is 97% of the positive cases in Alaska at this time) have expanded our level of caution in Wrangell to a greater level than we once believed would have been needed,” Schools Superintendent Bill Burr wrote in a letter to the community last month.
“This variant has been shown to spread easier and between all groups regardless of age or vaccination.”
The district took last year’s COVID-19 mitigation plan, “condensed the information into a slimmer and more clearly stated ‘Start Strong’ plan,” Burr wrote.
That includes:
• Face masks for all students, staff and guests when in school buildings. “During outdoor school activities, masks are required if unable to social distance.”
• Hand sanitizer will be available in classrooms, and electrostatic sprayers to kill the virus will be used daily.
• Improved ventilation and air filters, with additional air purifiers in some locations.
• Students will be grouped in class at tables and desks at least 3-feet apart whenever possible.
• Last year’s one-way hallway traffic will return to regular hallway use, “but staff and students are still encouraged to social distance, and lockers will be allotted upon request.”
• Lunch will return to its regular schedule, including a single lunch period at the middle and high schools. Seating in the lunch areas will be set up for social distancing.
• Vaccinated students and staff returning from travel should test on their return Wrangell, but then may return to school while waiting for their test results and should follow social-distancing policies.
• Unvaccinated students and staff should test upon their return to town and quarantine. They should take a second test at five days after their return, and if that comes back negative they may return to school if they are not showing any symptoms of COVID. In lieu of a second test, they may return to school after 10 days in quarantine, as long as they are not showing any symptoms.
Many school districts in Alaska have retained their required face mask policies from last year, though not three of the largest: Masking is not required in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Kenai Peninsula Borough and Fairbanks North Star Borough.
After an outbreak of cases last week at Butte Elementary School, the Mat-Su School District closed Butte to students and switched to 100% remote learning, at least for this week.
The district reported 153 cases in the first eight days of classes at all its facilities.
The Nanwalek School near Homer on the Kenai Peninsula went to 100% remote learning last week, but was scheduled to reopen its classrooms this week.
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