The Petersburg School Board will be meeting in regular session Tuesday at 6 p.m. and there is a very light agenda. There are no items under new or old business. The meeting will focus on reports from the superintendent, school principals, and the activities director.
The school board will also see a presentation from the middle school robotics team. The 7th and 8th graders competed in a regional tournament this past weekend and won an award for “innovative project”.
In a written report prepared for the meeting, Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter said the school district will continue with current COVID protocols moving into the holidays. That will include universal masking.
The school district released information breaking down the COVID cases associated with the schools. There were 97 total COVID cases since October 1st among students and staff: 49 at the elementary, 19 at the middle school, and 29 at the high school. Of those cases, 89 were unvaccinated or what is 92 percent of the cases.
Of the 89 unvaccinated cases, 52 reported symptoms and 10 had no symptoms. For the other 27 unvaccinated cases, it is unknown whether they had symptoms or not.
Of the eight vaccinated cases at the schools, four had symptoms and four did not.
The district has begun a “test to stay” pilot program for COVID cases identified at the schools. It allows students who are close contacts to continue attending school if they test daily. Although vaccinated students are not required to quarantine, Public Health is asking them to participate in the “test to stay” program. The testing program is also available for students after travel instead of quarantining.
The high school’s winter band concert is Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Wright Auditorium. The middle school’s concert is Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. The elementary school is planning a recorded video performance for the holidays.
Secondary Principal Rick Dormer has been elected President of the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals (AASSP). He was the Region V representative for about a decade. In this role, Dormer will also serve on the Alaska Council of School Administrators.
The regular school board meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the Petersburg High School library and via Ring Central video conferencing.
KFSK will be broadcasting the meeting live. To listen, you can stream it online at KFSK.org. The public can participate during comments from the audience through RingCentral. To participate, mail the district office before the meeting to get the password for the videoconference. Those email addresses are: exec@pcsd.us or supt@pcsd.us. Or call the office at (877)-526-7656.
Also, tune in to KFSK Tuesday at 12:30 p,m. for Campus Connection, a call-in with school district officials and the middle school robotics team.
