Dear HBSD Families,

As we prepare for Spring Break, I wanted to thank you all for your cooperation, support, and understanding during the third quarter.  I am very proud of the way that we have worked together to resolve some very complex issues while keeping school safely open as we continue to move toward what I hope will be a much more “normal” end of the school year.

As a reminder, our school district has a board approved travel policy.  It is summarized below and explains the process for returning to school if you travel outside of our state or within Alaska in an identified “high risk” area.

Bottom line in regard to our upcoming break -

*  A test is not necessary for returning to school if you have had COVID during the past 90 days.

*  If you arrive back to Haines on March 22 or before - no test is necessary for return to school.  You sure can if you want to, but it is not part of our protocol for returning to school.

*  If you arrive on March 23 or after, please administer an antigen test on the mornings of March 28 and 30.

*  As long as your student has a negative test and is symptom free, they may return to school on March 28.

*  Tests do not need to be brought to school as attendance implies a negative result.

At-Home test kits are available in our school and district offices.  Feel free to take enough for your entire family if you wish to use it after travel or any time for that matter.  They are all free of charge.

We are completing the quarter on a high note and have done well in regard to ongoing changes in our mitigation protocols.  Have a great break and thank you for all you do for the benefit of our students and school.

Yours in Education,

Roy Getchell

Dear HBSD Families,

I am communicating with you in more detail about yesterday’s announcement that masks will be recommended but not required beginning on Monday, March 7.  I hope this answers some of your questions:

1.     What are our latest numbers?  They have declined substantially over the course of the month and are confined within traceable locations (like within families or a social group).  The numbers reported from DHSS are delayed and are not always accurate for a variety of reasons. This is why communication between the school and our families is important in assisting us with the “real picture” of COVID numbers.

2.     What about isolation and quarantine requirements?  For identified cases occurring out of school, we will expect students/staff to continue to follow the current requirements for both isolation and quarantine as advised by their healthcare provider. If a COVID exposure is identified in school, we will continue to send notices by school level but will not be contact tracing and/or quarantining students.

3.     Will you close school?  The biggest two factors that we will be considering in regard to a school closure is the availability of staff as well as if COVID is more prevalent in school versus the Haines community at large.  This would be an unlikely last resort as we hope to shift to responding more to clusters/outbreaks rather than making a school-wide response.

4.      What about testing?  We will continue to offer at-home tests for no charge. We still need you to call the clinic if your child has any COVID related symptoms. Please do not send them to school until they are cleared to return.  Athletes/activity travelers will continue to be tested on a regular basis, especially before and after travel outside of Haines.  Our travelpolicythat was adopted in December is still in effect for students and staff.

5.     How is risk level determined?  Our School Board adoptedrisk levelson January 4 and later amended them on March 1. This gives me greater flexibility for making COVID decisions while not necessarily having specific numbers in order to “trigger” mitigations (like masking, closure, testing, etc.). This document, as well as other COVID relatedresources, are available on our website athbsd.net. Consistency and routine is important for us all.

6.     Are you still concerned about COVID?  Yes we are.  Even though we are in a transition process along with the rest of the country, we will slowly remove mitigations to ensure safety, continuity, and an orderly change process.  These changes will be guided and evaluated with significant input from our Health Advisory Committee which continues to meet weekly.

I will update you again tomorrow and cannot say enough how thankful I am for your support and help as we work together for the children of Haines.

Yours in Education,

Roy Getchell

Dear HBSD Families,

I hope you are all enjoying the sunshine today as we move closer to spring.  I actually saw the sun yesterday evening at 5:30 and it gave me hope that we are getting there.

Our school district has a process for making hard decisions.  That process flows through our school board, who hears recommendations from me and opinions from our stakeholders, and is done in the open with transparency and integrity.  Tomorrow we will have our monthly board workshop at 6:30 in the library (or via ZOOM) in order to discuss what an effective plan revision might look like for our next steps in pandemic response.  While our workshops are open to the public, they are not designed for public comment. The opportunity for public input will be at our regular monthly school board meeting on March 1 at 7:00 p.m.  Emails about workshop content or any proposal can also be sent to me at:rgetchell@hbsd.net.  You can also reach me by phone or in-person.  School email addresses for board members are available on our website.

Although it is our norm to work as a team, it is the board who will make the final decision about any changes.  My recommendations to them will be made after months of work and research for our current situation, even as we have continued a path toward normalcy during what has been a challenging, yet productive semester.   I am confident that we will arrive in a good place soon that may not be perfect for everyone, but rather a place of common understanding that benefits our students.  Like you, I am hopeful that we are closer to what may be a turning point in the pandemic.

Thank you all again so much for your help and understanding throughout the school year.   We will continue to do well with your help, support, and grace.  Have a great week ahead.

Yours In Education,

Roy Getchell

Dear HBSD Families,

I hope that this icy Thursday finds you well.   I know that the beginning of the year has been challenging in regard to COVID-19 whether that is from the illness itself, finding accurate information, or just the fatigue of the past two years.  While I am not a medical professional, at all, I hope to provide some updated information as we work through this together at school.   Below are some questions that I hear a lot:

1. *What are our latest numbers?*Oh, the numbers.  When and how they are reported is changing and will continue to do so.  We work with Alaska Public Health and SEARHC to gather what we can, but primarily we are working with families and staff members who keep us posted when school cases arise (which they have).  We will carefully report any known cases of exposure at school by level as soon as possible.  Things can change, but we seem to be stable in regard to both student and staff illness related absence

2. *What about isolation and quarantine requirements?  Yes – those recently changed.  We will follow requirements as outlined by Alaska Public Health which typically mirrors the CDC.  Guidelines may change again and we will follow suit in order to keep our policies consistent with state and federal health guidance.  If identified as a close-contact due to exposure to COVID outside of school, many factors in regard to quarantine are considered including exposure timelines, vaccine status, and if the exposed individual has tested positive for COVID previously.  In school, since we are currently masking and distancing, your child will not be considered a close contact and quarantines will not be necessary for exposures that happen during the school day.  When our risk level goes down and masks are optional, a “test to stay” protocol will be available for identified school close contacts.  More information about that will come at a later date.

3. *Will you close school?*Our position has always been to protect the in-school learning environment for our students.  Closely behind that priority is the importance of school activities.  In addition to health and safety, the biggest two factors that we will be considering in regard to a school closure is the availability of staff as well as if COVID is more prevalent in school vs. the Haines community at large.  Keeping school open is a shared responsibility and effort that has been very successful, due in large part to the unified efforts of everyone.

4. *What about the take home tests?*The take home tests (antigen tests) have been very good in identifying if someone is COVID positive.  However, it may take longer for them to turn “positive” with the Omicron variant (even with symptoms).  They are still an effective screening tool for asymptomatic student athletes/activities and staff testing since they happen on a regularly scheduled routine.  They are also effective for travel, so long as two tests are taken 48 hours apart.  They are available at no charge in the front office as well as by mail order by visiting www.covidtests.gov.

5. *If my child or I have symptoms who do I call?*Please let us know, but call the SEARHC clinic so they can perform a PCR test.  Again, a negative at-home antigen test may not be accurate early on, even with symptoms.  Positive at-home antigen test results seem to be very reliable but PCR tests seem to be picking up the new variant more quickly than the at-home tests do

6. *This testing all seems confusing – is there anything else I can do?*Probably one of the most underrated ways to check for COVID at home is by monitoring your child for fever or other symptoms before the school day.   With symptoms, please keep your child home and call the clinic for a PCR test.

7. *Will this ever end?*I sure wish I had a crystal ball in order to answer that, but our past has shown that things will improve, sometimes dramatically.  It is through those lessons that we hope to decrease mitigation efforts at the school when our risk levels go down and tighten them as necessary all while moving towards normalcy.   In January it seems like July will never come, but somehow it always does.

I cannot say enough how thankful I am for your support and help as we work together for the children of Haines.

Yours in Education,

Roy Getchell

Dear HBSD Families,

The Haines Borough School District recently adopted a strategic plan that is being implemented this year.  These are the long-term goals that our district has to make it an even better place for our students.  A summary includes things like:

·Maximizing the academic performance for all of our learners while also encouraging their well-being;

·Keeping our high quality team of educators in Haines and at our school;

·Increasing opportunities for parent and community involvement;

·Effectively communicating with our parents and community members;

·Graduating all of our students on time and with a plan for their future after high school; and

·Ensuring that all of our graduates possess “Alaska Ready” skills like: cold water safety, avalanche awareness, hunter’s safety, and CPR.

I know that much of the communication home during the last month has been operational in nature, specifically in regard to COVID-19.  Rest assured that while health and safety is and has always been our #1 priority, the vast majority of our time and efforts are the continuous improvement of our school through the goals identified in our strategic plan.  I look forward to updating you on our progress as we work together for the children of Haines.

Yours in Education,

Roy Getchell

Superintendent

Dear HBSD Families,

Today you will find several resources as we prepare for the new school year that begins tomorrow for grades 1-12 and next week for kindergarten.   A summary document called “Return to School Operational Guidelines” has been uploaded to our website under the label “COVID­19 News and Updates.” It will answer at a glance many questions that you might have.

While we won’t be requiring the completion of a written health screener, we do ask that you kindly assess your students’ health daily to ensure that they do not come to school with any symptoms thatcouldbe COVID related.  Those include a fever of 100.3 or higher, chills, cough, difficulty breathing, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fatigue, body aches, and loss of taste or smell.  Please call SEARHC at 766-6300 if your child has any of those symptoms to schedule a rapid test at no cost to you.

We appreciate all of your involvement and feedback as we have done our very best to meet the needs of our students.  Working together we are striving to keep our school open and safe as we walk a path that leads to normalcy.

Yours in Education,

Roy Getchell,

Superintendent

August 10, 2021

Dear HBSD Families,

We are working on mitigations to make our school environment as safe as possible, all while leaning forward as we walk a measured path to normalcy for the 2021-22 school year.  Our current environment highlights what we already knew – any plan we make must be versatile in responding to our local conditions.  In spite of the challenges we face, rest assured that not only have we done this before, but that the team of educators who are responsible for your children performed at the highest possible level this past year.  That experience has prepared us for the challenges ahead.

On Thursday evening at 7:00, our school board will be taking action on a return to school plan that I will email to you and post on our website.  I have spoken with many of you in person, over the phone, as well as through surveys and focus groups.  Your feedback has been important throughout and you are welcome to provide comment about the plan under consideration.

Some highlights include

1. Creating a versatile system of decision making that allows us to better respond to local conditions vs. having a year-long unchangeable plan
2. Beginning the year with many layered mitigations that are similar to last year, such as: staying home when ill, wearing masks indoors, maintaining social distancing, and continuing with high quality air filtration and building sanitization
3. “Normalizing” things such as:  returning our library to its normal use, returning to regular entrances/exits, utilizing the playground before school, eating lunch in the cafeteria (our normal menu returns), increasing public access to our facility, and dismissing school at 3:00
4. Adding no cost testing capacity with immediate results to return students and staff back to school in a timely manner (this is 100% grant funded)
5. Adding a mental health support position for our students and families (this is 100% grant funded)

In addition to these adjustments, we ar

1. Providing each family/staff member in our correspondence and brick and mortar programs with $40 toward their internet bill during the first semester
2. Increasing our correspondence allotment by $100 annually to stay ahead of our statewide competitors
3. Operating under a Federal National School Lunch Program option that offers free lunch and breakfast during the school year.

The safety of our students remains our number one priority as we work to maintain our in-person learning, continuation of student activities, and the well-being of our community.

Yours in Education,

Roy Getchell

Superintendent