By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Following the rush that accompanies the start of school – and the added challenge of a handful of positive COVID tests – Mt. Edgecumbe High School is hitting its pace this week, the school superintendent says.
“Today we’re getting a big breather after the last week,” Janelle Vanasse said.
Enrollment this fall is 417, including 389 boarding students, arriving from all over the state. The school closed early at the end of the 2019-20 school year due to COVID concerns, and reopened last fall with a slightly lower enrollment and strict safety protocols in place. Similar precautions are being taken this year, Vanasse said.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School has an on-campus health clinic run by the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, and a COVID safety plan was created by a team consisting of Vanasse, staff members, medical providers at the school clinic, and the state Public Health Nurse.
Vanasse said the past year taught staff, students and health providers a lot.
“We kept some of the things we had and changed some of the things,” Vanasse said.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School Students pass between classes this afternoon on the school’s closed campus. (Sentinel Photo by Reber Stein)
The 2020-21 school year was by all counts a successful one, she said. Students were able to attend classes in person, participate in sports and activities, and - at certain risk levels - visit town. The year ended with a tally of just 12 COVID cases, although many students had to quarantine or isolate as a result of the contact tracing process.
Ten students have tested positive since arrivals started August 20.
“We feel like the Delta variant is a little bit trickier, but we’re prepared to deal with that,” Vanasse said.
Students were tested upon their arrival and again after five to seven days in case they had become infected before or during travel. Testing of close contacts of positive students and the automatic testing five to seven days after arrival resulted in a few more positive tests, Vanasse said.
Sitka’s community virus dashboard shows 10 positive cases of nonresidents in the age 10-19 range starting September 24, but doesn’t identify the cases as Edgecumbe students.
The students who tested positive over the weekend were already quarantining at the time for any of a number of reasons: they were unvaccinated, had arrived later, or were identified as a close contact of a person testing positive, the superintendent said. Unvaccinated students have a longer quarantine period.
“We know the unvaccinated students are most vulnerable and we knew we had to have a good quarantine (time) for them,” she said.
But Vanasse said the school’s plan to implement a “layered” approach is working, with no spread beyond what was expected. Cases were caught early.
“It’s what our plan was meant to do,” she said. “If we didn’t control that intermingling, the virus would spread.”
After the first week, the school has a regular testing schedule, including once a week for those involved in sports and activities; every week for day students and unvaccinated students; and less frequently for others.
Another new development since a year ago is the availability of the vaccine to all high school-age students. Many students were vaccinated last spring when it became available to those age 16 and up in April 2020. More students were vaccinated when it opened to those as young as 12, in May.
Vanasse said some 76 percent of the student body is fully vaccinated at this time.
“We will go to 85 percent,” she said, noting the 20 to 25 kids who were vaccinated right before traveling to Sitka, and the 13 others who expressed an interest in being vaccinated. “We’re not there yet.”
Vanasse said the school is still not able to offer some pre-pandemic activities such as open gym, but the kids are still clearly happy to be back. She said the airport arrival was marked by masked students greeting each other with enthusiastic hugs – which they were advised to keep brief.
Monday marked the first full day of classes and a regular schedule.
“It feels great,” Vanasse said, following the end of a tense week. “You are on pins and needles the whole time. Then you start to feel better. This was the first day for us truly to let go of our breath.”
Sunday was a big day for staff, with the return of the students’ second test results, and finding the virus had not spread beyond what was expected among those in quarantine for various reasons.
“Had we not quarantined and had them mingling with friends for several days we would’ve seen a campus ‘event,’” Vanasse said. “It’s good to know we didn’t create that.”
State public health nurse Denise Ewing said she’s looking forward to continuing working with the school.
“What a privilege it has been working alongside MEHS,” she said in an emailed comment. “We have an incredible open communication between the school directorship, medical staff, and Public Health. I believe we have each other on speed dial, speaking almost daily as the students return and get re-acquainted into their school-life routines.
“It’s a tall order welcoming everyone back from the far-reaching areas across Alaska and doing it in a pandemic with very few positive cases as a result. Amazing work they’re doing – I can’t praise them enough!”
