The school board on Monday approved changes to the district’s COVID-19 mitigation plan that would allow staff and students to return to school sooner after close contact with infected individuals or positive test results.
Changes reflect the latest guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in some cases cut isolation times in half. Masking and social distancing will still be required at all Wrangell schools.
Schools Superintendent Bill Burr said the revised plan took effect Jan. 7, with staff and parents notified by letter.
“Due to changes in the CDC’s guidance and the emergence of the Omicron variant, the (Wrangell Public Schools) mitigation plan has had some changes in accordance with new isolation and quarantine requirements,” Burr wrote in his report to the school board. “This is the first significant change to guidance since the summer of 2021.”
Though there was an uptick in cases among staff and students in the first couple of weeks of January, the guidelines call for fewer days in isolation and less time away from school. If a person tests positive for COVID-19, the mitigation plan recommends they isolate for five days and return to school on the sixth day rather than the previously suggested 10 and 11 days, respectively, if they have had no symptoms for 24 hours.
If a person is unable to test but is still exhibiting symptoms, it is recommended they isolate for 10 days and return to school on the 11th day if no symptoms are exhibited after 24 hours.
Those who are not vaccinated or who were vaccinated more than five months ago with Pfizer or Moderna and two months ago with Johnson & Johnson and have not received a booster shot will need to quarantine for five days after their last contact with a positive case. Staff or students can return to school “on day six with a negative test result on or after day five if no symptoms appear; or if student/staff provide medical documentation of COVID plus recovery the previous three months to the school, they will not need to quarantine during this time.”
Students and staff who are fully vaccinated and have received the booster shot and have had close contact with a positive case should mask immediately and monitor themselves for symptoms, according to the district policy. If symptoms appear, they should follow the protocols for unvaccinated individuals. If no symptoms appear, they can continue coming to school, but masking should continue for 10 days and they should be tested three to five days from their last exposure with the positive case.
Protocols for fully vaccinated students and staff returning from travel have changed to include the booster shot reference.
“Upon return to Wrangell, fully vaccinated and boostered staff, or students who are fully vaccinated should test, mask, return to work or school and maintain as much social distancing as possible until negative test results are received, as long as they are not symptomatic,” the revised mitigation plan reads.
Increased cases have put a strain on Wrangell’s school staff, but Burr said the district has been able to keep campuses open instead of moving to online learning.
“We are always looking at possibilities, with school in session being ideal,” he said. “Staffing is the biggest factor, and through the current staff and administration we have so far been able to keep our doors open and learning happening.”
Two students addressed the board at Monday’s meeting, asking members to reconsider the masking mandate.
“Have you noticed you get kids to wear masks at school, but right when they step out the door of the school, they take off their mask and go to their friend’s house,” said student Clara Carney. “Please reconsider this rule since it has been almost two years since it has been started.”
Fifth grade student Charlie Nelson said he felt masks should be optional.
“I feel like they aren’t helping to spread of COVID. I’ve been getting a headache every day after wearing a mask,” Nelson said. “I haven’t seen my friends’ faces in two years.”
Other schools in Alaska are adopting the CDC guidelines as well, though in some cases they have returned to online classes amid a surge in new infections.
As of late last week, students in Kodiak had returned to virtual learning after the borough’s active case count reached 711. Three hundred students and staff were absent last week due to isolation and quarantine, radio station KMXT reported.
“We did not want to do this, we’ve been doing everything possible to keep the schools open and to fight that battle,” said Superintendent Larry LeDoux. “But you have to have staff and you have to have principals in the hallway with kids instead of teaching classes and you have to have aides there to help people achieve their goals. And you have to have a safe environment for kids.”
The Anchorage School District continued in-person classes at the start of this week, despite 1,023 active cases as of last Friday. The district is continuing to require face masks in all buildings.
“My priority is keeping our schools open and safe with in-person learning and not to revert back to virtual learning,” Superintendent Deena Bishop wrote in a letter to parents.
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