For the last five months, the Haines Borough School District has been trying to figure out how to safely hold in-person classes for students. Students started off this school year slowly, only attending school for two days a week to make sure that everyone (students, staff, and parents) became familiar with new systems put in place because […]
Search results
Posted inNews, School Board
School board to decide on early school schedule, mask requirements
The Haines Borough School District Board will decide Tuesday, Aug. 4 what the beginning of the school year’s schedule and operations will look like for teachers and students including an initial part-time schedule along with face-covering requirements. The board will meet in a Zoom workshop on Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. to discuss the plans prior to […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Locally sourced lunches a success
Thank you Haines Borough School District for allowing us to participate in the summer lunch program. Through our partnership we were able to feed locally sourced meals to more than 800 kids! Thank you Cheryl, Dick, and Lisa for sharing your kitchen space and working with the library and local vendors to create delicious lunches! Thank you […]
Posted inNews
School proposes in-person classes, shortened days for upcoming year
The Haines Borough School District has developed a tentative COVID-19 mitigation plan for the upcoming school year including in-person classes, small groups of students, mask wearing and a shortened school day. To help create the plan, the district solicited input from focus groups of teachers, staff and middle school and high school students, as well as experts […]
Posted inNews
District works on plans for next school year amid pandemic
As students enter summer vacation amid decreasing COVID-19 restrictions, administrators are busy preparing for what the next school year might look like amid the ongoing pandemic. Haines Borough School District superintendent Roy Getchell is creating surveys and conducting focus groups with students, parents, teachers and residents to try and learn what worked well with distance learning, […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
School staff teach lesson on hardship
I want to thank all the staff at the Haines Borough School District, and especially Mr. Sam McPhetres, for all their hard work that they have been doing through this difficult time. Teachers and coaches have always taught us to push through hardships. Now that we are in that hard place, they are the ones pushing […]
Posted inNews
Students plan for virtual graduation
This year’s Haines High School seniors are in the early stages of designing a virtual graduation ceremony since the state issued a health mandate closing school facilities through the end of the school year. The mandate has prompted schools across Alaska to begin planning virtual graduation events. “So far, we’re thinking (the ceremony) will follow […]
Posted inNews
New budget draft cuts Mosquito Lake Community Center
Haines Borough manager Debra Schnabel has submitted a new draft of the budget for the assembly’s consideration that removes funding for the Mosquito Lake Community Center. After Schnabel released her first draft on April 1, several assembly members said they were concerned that the budget did not cut enough to accommodate the economic realities of COVID-19. “We […]
Posted inNews
Borough manager proposes minor cuts in draft budget
On April 1, Haines Borough manager Debra Schnabel released a draft budget containing only modest cuts despite a projected decrease in revenue resulting from COVID-19. Some of the more significant cuts Schnabel proposed in her draft budget include: pay freezes for non-union positions, furlough for all employees, a borough-wide freeze on travel, transfer of the Community Youth Development Program […]
Posted inNews
How parents and children talk about a pandemic
How do you explain a worldwide pandemic to a child when you can barely wrap your head around it as an adult? Parents in Haines have been forced to consider the question as the threat of COVID-19 has increased in Alaska and around the globe. “(The virus is) spreading quickly… because people are traveling and […]