The Juneau School District will begin on Aug. 24 with no in-person instruction.
Juneau School District Superintendent Bridget Weiss announced the decision on Tuesday to start entirely with distance learning.
Weiss said if public health conditions remain stable, in-person classes with small groups of students could begin after Labor Day. At the earliest, larger groups of older students could return to schools at the end of the first quarter, Oct. 16, and younger students at the end of first trimester, Nov. 6.
Weiss said the school district will provide Chromebooks to students who need them for school work, and will offer parents tech training.
District officials will hold another Zoom forum at 5 p.m. Wednesday to discuss details of the school start. Additional information is available on the district’s website, including an FAQ.
Juneau’s announcement comes as school leaders across the country craft plans to operate during the pandemic after abrupt closures in March. In Alaska, the Anchorage School District will also start its school year with online-only classes. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District will have in-person classes, and is requiring most students to wear masks.
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Jeremy Hsieh is the deputy managing editor of the KTOO newsroom in Juneau. He’s a podcast fiend who’s worked in journalism since high school as a reporter, editor and television producer. He ran Gavel Alaska for 360 North from 2011 to 2016, and is big on experimenting with novel tools and mediums (including the occasional animated gif) to tell stories and demystify the news. Jeremy’s an East Coast transplant who moved to Juneau in 2008.
