Urgent Message Concerning COVID Risk Level

May 11, 2021

Dear Parents, Students, and Community Members:

As you may already know, the Ketchikan EOC has issued an increase in community risk level to Level 4 Very High Risk. Our community risk level has continued to be impacted with many new positive COVID cases today, many of those impacting our schools. After working closely with our school administrators, district nurses, the EOC and Public Health, I have issued the below action plan.

In response to the change to Community Risk Level to Level 4 Very High Risk, I am directing the following:

The District will move to Medium Risk level effective immediately for all schools unless otherwise noted below. Students and staff with even mild symptoms will be required to stay home.

All extracurricular, outside user group, or out-of-school-facility sports or activities (i.e. field trips, beach days, etc.) will be postponed until further notice. 

All secondary schools will have an asynchronous learning day on Friday, May 14th.

Schoenbar Middle School will be closed for 24-hours tomorrow Wednesday, May 12th to assist with contact tracing of newly identified positive cases, and will have asynchronous/remote learning days for the rest of the week.  SMS will make a full transition to a 50% on-site model by Monday, May 17th. 

Revilla Jr./Sr. High School will transition to a 50% model on Wednesday, May 12th.

Ketchikan High School will remain in 50% capacity model.

Houghtaling Elementary school will be changed to High Risk level effective immediately and closed for the rest of the week due to the number of positive cases, the need to quarantine staff, and to provide time for additional contact tracing. (Risk level to be reassessed later in the week.) 

Point Higgins Elementary school, Fawn Mountain Elementary school, Ketchikan Charter School, and Tongass School of Arts & Sciences will remain open with strict cohorting, health screenings, hand washing, social distancing, and continuous masking. 

Additional cases impacting any school may cause a change in school risk level and/or operations. This will be evaluated on a daily basis.

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We have a very limited window of time to bring our community risk level down in order for our students to enjoy the end-of-the-year activities they so enjoy and look forward to each year. In order to stop the spread of COVID in our community, I strongly encourage all individuals to self-screen for any symptoms prior to reporting to work or school, adhere to strict social distancing and masking, test and quarantine if you have symptoms, and get vaccinated if you have not already.

In an effort to assist with mitigation efforts, the District will be ramping up our testing capabilities in the coming days. There will be a Pfizer vaccination and PCR testing clinic hosted at Kayhi on this coming Saturday and Sunday from 10am-2pm. Stay tuned for more information on this event. 

And please complete this short survey to let us know your thoughts on vaccinating your children ages 12-15: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/c43557ed7a5140a18faef96ee77aaec2

As always, thank you for your efforts to keep our kids in school!

Katie Parrott, Acting Superintendent

KGBSD Travel Quarantine & Testing Protocols

Updated March 4, 2021

Individuals traveling out-of-state and/or in the State of Alaska must quarantine for a minimum of 5 days upon return and can return to work/school with a negative test conducted within 5-7 days of return. Individuals who return to work/school after travel should closely self-monitor for any symptoms (even mild ones) for 14 days after arrival. The District recommends testing prior to travel per State of Alaska Health Advisory 2.

Individuals traveling out-of-state and/or in the State of Alaska for less than 72 hours do not need to quarantine, but should obtain a COVID test upon return and should closely self-monitor for any symptoms (even mild ones) for 14 days after arrival.

Individuals who have tested positive and recovered from COVID within 90 days of traveling do not need to quarantine or test prior to returning to work/school, if both of the following conditions are met:

• The traveler provides proof of a previously positive result of a molecular-based COVID-19 test within 90 days of departure; and
• The traveler is currently asymptomatic

Individuals engaging in student activity travel must abide by the Student Activities Mitigation Plan for traveling teams while on activities travel and upon return from travel, and should closely self-monitor for any symptoms (even mild ones) for 14 days after arrival.

Individuals who have been fully-vaccinated* do not need to quarantine if they are asymptomatic, but should obtain a COVID test upon return and should closely self-monitor for any symptoms (even mild ones) for 14 days after arrival.

* Fully-vaccinated is defined as more than two weeks following receipt of the second dose in a two-dose series, or more than two weeks following receipt of one dose of a single-dose vaccine.

Children under the age of 10 or students over the age of 10 with special needs that would make testing difficult can use the negative test results of a parent or guardian who traveled with them.

In keeping with the District’s COVID-19 mitigation plan, all staff and students are strongly encouraged to self-monitor and test should you experience any symptoms regardless of having recently traveled.