SMART START UPDATE
Wrangell Public School District is committed to reopening our schools and meeting the needs of our students during this unexpected time in our history. As most of you know, each school district has been tasked with planning a SMART START reentry plan. Here is a link to that plan.
https://education.alaska.gov/news/COVID-19/Alaska%20Smart%20Start%202020%20Framework%20Guidance.pdf
In June, WPSD had a series of committee meetings with various stakeholders to get a sense of prevailing concerns and questions. We also welcomed comments and questions to be emailed and sent to smartstart@wpsd.us. Big thanks to those who participated in the meetings and email opportunities. The information we gained was timely, thought provoking, and provided a base for beginning our framework.
Earlier this week, our WPSD Task Force began a series of daily meetings to take your ideas, the guidelines from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), public health care officials, and other districts, to design a unique plan for our reentry to school this year. The Task Force is made up of both Building Administrators, the Director of Maintenance, the Technology Director, and the Superintendent.
The framework provided by the state requires a plan for over 17 different areas of consideration of reopening schools in low, medium, and high-risk situations. There are hundreds of decisions to be made by the Task Force. Our expectation is to have the framework completed by July 15. Once the draft is completed, we want to hold a Town Hall meeting to share the plan. It is important to hear what the community has to say. The Town Hall meeting will be held on July 16 at 6 pm. Once we make minor adjustments to our plan after the Town Hall meeting, we will submit the plan to the state for approval. Once our plan is approved, we will have another Town Hall meeting the first or second week in August (dependent on timing of state approval). The second Town Hall meeting will provide exact details on how school will be conducted for low, medium, and high-risk health conditions. DHSS determines the risk level in Wrangell.
None of this is easy. None of this is how we planned to spend our summer. However, there is no more important work than this. We are in this together, and together we will do what seems impossible. We will show our children how working as a team can overcome challenges.
I thank you all!
Dr. Debbe Lancaster
Superintendent
