Southeast Alaska school closing down over lack of students

A school on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska that saw only a handful of graduates last year is closing its doors due to a lack of students.

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KFSK-FM reports the small school on the northern end of the island in Port Protection is closed for the fall semester. The closure comes after the recent shuttering of two other schools in the Southeast Island School District.

Superintendent Lauren Burch says the Port Protection school had five graduates this year and that there are no school-age children left in the community.

Burch noted that the discussions in the Legislature of increasing the minimum threshold of students for funding schools tends to steer people away from moving to small towns.

State estimates show Port Protection has a population of 54.

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