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Rae C. Stedman Elementary School will begin offering special education preschool beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter told the Petersburg School Board at their meeting on Feb. 9. The program will be offered to special education students between three and five years old. Their enrollment in the program will be free, but others can join the program for a fee. Kludt-Painter said the fee would ensure the program isn't competing with established preschools in the...
The Emergency Operations Center has increased the local risk of COVID-19 spread to red, following 13 new active cases identified in the last four days, according to a joint press release from Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The EOC is currently reporting 16 active cases in the community. Of the current active cases, 11 are considered to be community spread, according to the press release. Those infected with COVID-19 are both symptomatic and asymptomatic, and two infected... Full story
Petersburg COVID-19 case count has risen by six cases since Monday evening for a total of 26 active cases, according to the Emergency Operations Center COVID-19 Dashboard. Twenty-four of the active cases are currently in Petersburg, while the remaining two cases are infected residents who are outside of the community, according to Incident Commander Karl Hagerman at a special Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday. The EOC issued a CodeRed alert Monday evening to make the community aware of the... Full story
A motion to terminate the local face masking mandate failed at an assembly meeting on Monday after assembly members declined to second the motion. Assembly Taylor Norheim requested the action item be on Monday's agenda and made the motion to terminate Public Health Mandate #8. The motion failed to gain a second, which prevented a discussion and vote on terminating the mask mandate. The mask mandate was put in place by the Borough Assembly in November and will remain in place until the assembly...
The Petersburg School Board approved the academic calendar for the 2021-2022 school year at their meeting on Tuesday that takes a more traditional approach to the school year. Under the approved calendar, school begins on Aug. 31 for students and ends on June 2. Christmas break will be two weeks long, and spring break will continue to be one week long in the middle of March. The Petersburg School District also scheduled in-service days for teachers near other holidays, like Labor Day, to extend...
The Borough Assembly unanimously approved an ordinance in its first reading that reestablishes user fees at the Parks and Recreation Center and allows anyone under the age of 18 to use the facility for free. Ordinance #2021-03 groups all users into two categories and establishes three types of fees. Those under the age of 18 are free to use the facility without payment, according to the ordinance. Those over the age of 18 either pay $5 per visit, $300 for an annual pass or $48 for a punch pass...
Two active cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in town this week, according to the Emergency Operations Center. The first case was identified on Monday after an incoming traveler had a tested sample collected at the Petersburg Airport, which later came back positive for the virus, according to a joint press release between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual had been in quarantine since arriving in Petersburg, and the EOC had determined the case presented a...
The Petersburg School Board began discussing the 2021-2022 school year calendar at their meeting on Jan. 12 and looked at three possible calendars. All three scenarios had the school year start on Aug. 24 and end before Memorial Day. They also had the same number of instruction hours. Students in kindergarten through third grade need at least 740 hours of instruction and study periods, according to State Statute 14.03.030. Students in fourth grade through 12th grade must have at least 900 hours...
Petersburg Medical Center vaccinated about 350 residents ages 65 and older during the COVID-19 vaccine drive on Jan. 14 at the Petersburg School District community gym, according to PMC Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner at the COVID-19 community update on Jan. 15. "It felt really great immunizing so many people in our community and getting that first step to having a safer community and decreasing the risk for people to become ill and hospitalized or worse with COVID," said Bryner. Coupled wit...
The Petersburg School Board approved a winter revision to the fiscal year 2021 budget that addresses changes in funding and needs mainly due to a decrease in enrollment and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Petersburg School District projected an enrollment of 470 students across all three schools in the district in the 2020-2021 school year, according to Finance Director Karen Morrison; however, there are only 426 students currently enrolled with the school district. That's an 8.83 percent decrease...
The Petersburg Emergency Operations Center lowered the community risk of COVID-19 transmission from orange to yellow, or level one on Wednesday, according to a joint press between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Although the current active case number in town is nine as of Wednesday afternoon, the EOC said the cases were a part of household clusters and have been isolated from the community; as a result, the EOC is able to lower the overall community risk level. However, an...
In her first Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting since becoming the new Parks and Recreation director, Stephanie Payne laid out the goals she'd like to accomplish in the coming weeks and months. Probably her highest priority is reassessing user contracts and memorandums of understanding. In addition to the typical patron who may visit the community gym to work out, play basketball or swim, there are organizations that have agreements with Parks and Recreation to use the facility. Some of...
The Petersburg School Board approved the sex education curriculum for Petersburg High School at their regular meeting on Tuesday to comply with HB 156. The house bill requires that the sex education instructor and the curriculum be approved each year, according to the PSB. The instructor will be science teacher Alice Cumps and sex education will be part of the overall curriculum for the ninth grade health class. PHS Principal Rick Dormer said the curriculum for sex education at the high school i...
The Petersburg School District postponed reopening the schools to students on Wednesday following Petersburg Emergency Operation Center's announcement on Monday that it was raising the local risk level for COVID-19 from yellow to orange. Students were set to return to school from winter break on Wednesday, Jan. 6, but the school district decided to switch to remote learning for the first week of the new year. In a message to parents, PSD officials said the school district would typically move...
The Borough Assembly, at their meeting on Monday, approved the Community Risk Communication Plan, which tracks the COVID-19 situation in town and offers guidelines. The Community Risk Communication Plan uses a dashboard that presents the risk level of COVID-19 in the borough, at Petersburg Medical Center and Petersburg School District on a day to day basis. It displays the total amount of COVID-19 tests on the local population and divides the data into different metrics, like the percentage of...
January The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposed establishing critical habitat areas for humpback whales in three distinct population segments located off Mexico, Central American and the Western Pacific. The Petersburg Borough sent a letter of disapproval to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the proposed critical habitat for humpback whales after residents spoke out against the proposal. The Petersburg Borough authorized the hire of Josh Rathmann to fill the...
Bell ringers raised $19,879.50 in donations for the Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign this holiday season, said Salvation Army Major Loni Upshaw. The donations will fund the Salvation Army's social services budget through 2021. Donations exceeded last year's donation by $2,700, and nearly reached the same amount as Ketchikan's Salvation Army's donations, which surprised Upshaw. She said she didn't have as many organizations and volunteers out ringing the bell this year as previous years. "We...
Petersburg School District students took a Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment test this fall that gauged reading fluency and math and reading growth among students, which found those skills had developed since last year. Kindergarteners through third graders were given a MAP Reading Fluency test for the first time this fall. The test assessed students on word recognition, listening comprehension, picture vocabulary and phonological awareness. Students in grades three through nine...
As of Wednesday, Petersburg Medical Center had collected 6,359 test samples to be tested for COVID-19 onsite and at outside laboratories. Of those test samples collected, 6,268 have returned negative and 55 are still pending. There are currently zero cases of COVID-19 in the community, according to the Petersburg Borough. Incident Commander Karl Hagerman cautioned businesses and the public at the COVID-19 community update on Dec. 11 about Julebukking this year. The Emergency Operations Center...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht has recommended Facilities Supervisor Stephanie Payne to fill the vacant Parks and Recreation director position. The Borough Assembly will vote whether or not to ratify the decision at their meeting on Monday, though Giesbrecht said there's a good chance they'll support his decision. Payne was originally hired by Parks and Rec. as the program director in March 2019 and was later promoted to facility supervisor three months later. Her duties increased when the...
December 9— Authorities responded to a report of theft at the Petersburg School District. A parking complaint at a location on Mitkof Highway brought a police response. Extra patrols were conducted on Charles W St. December 10— Authorities assisted with a probation reporting compliance report at a location on S. Nordic Dr. Disturbances were reported at South Boat Harbor and a location on N. 2nd St. December 11— A suspicious vehicle belonging to a patient at a Ketchikan hospital was reported at a location on Fram St. Authorities responded to a...
Activities at Petersburg High School are set to resume later this winter and spring with basketball and cheer starting Jan. 11. The decision comes after an Alaska School Activities Association Board of Directors meeting on Dec. 8. Petersburg School District Activities Director Jaime Cabral serves as the president for the region and also attended a conference for activity directors across the nation. "We're still super fortunate," said Cabral. "I got to talk with quite a few [activity directors]...
The Borough Assembly failed to pass a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the borough and Petersburg Medical Center to provide COVID-19 asymptomatic testing at Mountain View Manor Assisted Living at their meeting on Monday. On Nov. 18, PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter sent an email to the borough and the Petersburg School District, suggesting the asymptomatic testing of employees at MVM AL and at PSD by the hospital. Hofstetter cited rising COVID-19 case numbers in congregate settings across the state...
Petersburg's Emergency Operations Center has released the draft of its risk communication plan and COVID-19 dashboard, which will monitor the status of the virus in the community and offer mitigation strategies based on the current risk level. The dashboard utilizes four risk levels ranging from green to red to gauge the local COVID-19 status. It also monitors the risk levels at Petersburg Medical Center and Petersburg School District. Data on the dashboard shows COVID-19 tests numbers and any...
