Schoenbar Middle School. (KRBD file photo)
Ketchikan’s secondary students are set to return to full-capacity classrooms Monday. That’s after local emergency officials lowered the area’s COVID-19 risk level to “moderate”, citing a decline in the local positivity rate.
Middle and high school students in most Ketchikan schools had been attending only two days a week in person for most of February. That cut schools to about half their normal capacity, allowing students and staff more space to spread out and avoid spreading COVID-19.
The risk level was lowered Wednesday afternoon, but Acting Superintendent Katie Parrott told Ketchikan’s school board Thursday that students wouldn’t return to full-time classroom instruction until Monday.
The reduction in the risk level also means Ketchikan’s library was able to reopen Friday. City of Ketchikan and Ketchikan Public Utilities offices are also open with some restrictions. Ketchikan’s Gateway Recreation Center has reopened its gym and sauna, and has raised the capacity limits in its weight and cardio rooms. League sports, lessons and classes have also resumed. The borough’s animal shelter is now open to the public again as well.
